33–34. Their co-ordination with the numbering of the critical edition itself requires a minor research project.
.2 A fresh treatment of Gregory’s letters therefore seemed long overdue. English speaking readers without Greek were still largely conﬁned to a collection of eighteen letters based on defective editions of the 16th–19th centuries. vol. That study uncovered the importance of St Macrina (c. E. An occasion arose to remedy this situation by undertaking a comprehensive new English translation of Gregory’s letters supplemented
1 2
Nicene and Post Nicene Fathers 2nd ser.1 The numbering of the letters was confusing. as we hope to show.g. A wider survey soon revealed the highly unsatisfactory state of Gregory’s letters as they are available in English. Yet it had never appeared before in English. the younger Gregory was an assiduous writer of letters. 335–394) runs a poor third to the other two Cappadocian Fathers—at least to judge from body of his extant letters. The translations of a few other pieces were scattered here and there if one knew where to look for them. and critical for Gregory’s own history. In seeking the sources of Macrina’s life. resulting in my book The Asketikon of St Basil the Great.PREFACE AND ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
As a letter writer St Gregory of Nyssa (c. Present critical editions muster a mere thirty letters for Gregory of Nyssa. Happily it has proved possible in this book to make some signiﬁcant additions to the established collection of thirty. Despite the appearance of Pasquali’s critical edition in 1925. letters 29. vol. Nevertheless. My interest in Gregory’s letters arose in the context of researching St Basil and the emergence of monasticism in Asia Minor in the 4th century AD. 5. 5. We have more than three hundred of St Basil the Great’s letters and more than two hundred of St Gregory Nazianzen’s. 327–379) and the transformations of her house at Annisa as the prototypical monastic community whose features appear in the earliest edition of Basil’s Asketikon (c. 365). which is both the earliest documentation of her existence. 527–548. I came upon Gregory of Nyssa’s letter 19. 30 in NPNF 2nd ser.. especially the eighteen letters edited by Zaccagni.

hopefully. theological. given the patchiness of the sources. Letters 1–30 in the present book were ﬁrst translated from Pasquali’s edition. but cannot spare a few years to acquire Greek and Latin (and French and German and Italian). which in itself is no easy task. biographical. to ﬁnd new ones.2 in the Gregorii Nysseni Opera series. and of serving the needs of those who wish to study the Fathers of the Church. Prelude 1: Letters of St Basil. The book comprises three major sub-collections of letters. The primary aim of the book. In 1990 Pierre Maraval published a somewhat revised edition of the letters with French translation and ample commentary. In canvassing what to include in the collection. Prelude 2: Letters of St Gregory Nazianzen. The third sub-collection is called ‘Supplement’. e. The second sub-collection is called the ‘Pasquali collection’ after Georgio Pasquali who added notably to Zaccagni’s collection in his magisterial edition of 30 letters published in 1925. It
. The resulting book is oﬀered as a resource for those who wish to explore Gregory’s life. literary. A co-ordinate concern has been to situate these letters as far as possible in the chronology of Gregory’s life. in which as many additional letters of Gregory as possible have been assembled. But then it seemed worthwhile to call on the entire dossier of letters and excerpts of letters from Basil and Gregory Nazianzen to or concerning the younger Gregory. social. therefore.g. character and mind in any number of directions beyond the brief of this book. The idea at ﬁrst was to make up for the lack of extant letters from Gregory himself in the earlier period of his life. and beyond that. it seemed timely to go beyond the critical editions and seek out all the letters and fragments of letters that a century of scholarship had discovered and assigned to Gregory. It was republished as volume 8. This task was undertaken in the hope both of providing something stimulating for experienced scholars in the ﬁeld. but he did not venture beyond Pasquali’s selection of thirty letters. historical. ‘Prelude’ is divided into two parts. backed by the best of modern textual scholarship on textual matters. My indebtedness to Maraval’s comprehensive introduction and notes will be evident in my footnotes. and afterwards checked against Maraval’s text.xii
preface and acknowledgments
with appropriate introductions and notes. is to provide a readership in English with a thoroughly researched translation. The ﬁrst. even those dealing with the later period for which we do have Gregory’s letters.

The result of this research however. Analysis of the style and contents suggested the possibility of Gregory of Nyssa’s authorship. It is included here for the reader’s consideration as the ﬁnal letter of the present collection. it is transmitted in two manuscripts of his works. 16. one letter in particular attracted attention: letter 365 of the Benedictine edition. to the community at Sannabodae. letter 37. In two cases. e. Maraval. Hence it is omitted from this volume. In dredging the well-raked ﬁeld of Basil’s letters. n. suggested ‘Il n’est pas impossible. which was always acknowledged as Gregory’s. par ailleurs. a full text is recoverable from a very exact Latin translation. It has never to my knowledge appeared in English before. I searched Basil’s and Gregory Nazianzen’s correspondence for any letters that might possibly call for reassignment to Gregory of Nyssa. Then follow six letters for which the authorship of Gregory has been acknowledged or reasonably argued through the course of the 20th century. Then there is the Introduction. The identity of the translator is proposed. Whenever a document included in the present book is mentioned. Lettres. Insuﬃcient evidence was found to prove or disprove it as a letter of Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 1 is the outstanding example of a letter transmitted in the corpus of Nazianzen’s letters which is now acknowledged by all to be the younger Gregory’s. and does not oﬀer much material to work with. except that a certain question mark may be retained against his letter 236. Philosopher of God. It was not possible even in so textually oriented a book to omit some survey of Gregory’s life and
. regarded as spurious today by all scholars.preface and acknowledgments
xiii
begins with the most interesting Canonical Letter to Letoius as letter 31. letters 32 and 34. was negative. In view of this remark. qui’il y ait d’autres lettres de Grégoire dans la correspondance de Basile ou celle de Grégoire de Nazianze’. The letter is rather short however. only fragments of the letter survive. 2. it appears in bold type for easier recognition (as above). The letters of Gregory Nazianzen were also explored for possible reassignments. though in the case of letter 32. All citations of the Life of Macrina (‘VSM’) are according to my own division in to chapter and verse as they appear in my book Macrina the Younger. Detailed studies of the individual letters appear before each letter.g. certainly not enough to mount an argument for reassignment. Some external evidence suggests Gregory of Nyssa’s authorship.

my friend Margaret Watts of the Veech Library. It was while sitting at their dining room table on a night
. Anna Cavallaro and Brennan Wales for help with important articles in Italian. in gaining and taming the native ascetic movement of Asia Minor for the Church. Completion of this work was made possible by an Australian Research Council Fellowship. Catholic Institute of Sydney. I am bound also to record my thanks for the support received from the University of New England and the School of Classics History and Religion within the University. and have been able to highlight the family’s important contacts with Eustathius of Sebasteia (intentionally deleted from the family history by Gregory). Two historical questions are given more extended treatment: whether Gregory was married or not. Carol Handebo for sure guidance in all matters of academic administration. Deserving a special thanks are my friends.xiv
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character as the necessary context and crucible of the letters. Robert and Margaret Hanna. Oxford University Press has permitted me to reproduce my map from The Asketikon of St Basil the Great. for her ever prompt response to my requests. It is of course necessary to cite Greek words in the discussion of vocabulary. and the date of Basil’s death. Many individual persons also deserve thanks. through Macrina and Basil. I have brought to this task extensive research into Basil. together with aspects of Macrina’s and Gregory of Nyssa’s chronology dependant on it. Professional thanks are due to Brill’s academic reader whose observations were not less than forensic and helped rescue the work from several blunders. but I mention in particular Professor G. H. Horsley for his mentoring and constant friendship. Professor Ekkehard Mühlenberg of Göttingen. R. who proved a generous ally at diﬃcult points of the research. and Anna Terentieva my iconographer friend who crafted the intuitive icon of St Gregory that appears as the frontispiece. Nicholas Hunter of Caeros Pty Ltd (Armidale) for the graphics accompanying letters 20 and 25. The introduction concludes with a sketch of Gregory’s rhetorical style. Assessment of Gregory’s marital status is given direction in the ﬁrst place by the study of Nazianzen’s letter 197 and ampliﬁed by analysis of Gregory of Nyssa’s On Virginity. Yet a fair measure of Gregory’s literary style and ‘ﬂavour’ can be conveyed even in translation. and the all-important role this family played. Macrina and Gregory’s family background.

thanks be to God most high and to his saints. It has been my privilege to present them afresh to the world. August 2006 The University of New England Armidale NSW
. and not least.preface and acknowledgments
xv
in the Spring of the year of our Lord 1999 that the idea of this book was ﬁrst conceived. Lastly. Anna Silvas. comfort and inspiration. especially to Gregory and to his illustrious brothers and sisters. The sense of their presence has been my help.

Gregory’s surviving works are not as rich in autobiographical passages as are Basil’s letters and the long poems in which Nazianzen meditates on his own life.7). Whenever they lay hold of some good thought. Yet any attempt to discover the ground out of which his life arose runs up against the patchiness of the documentary record.
. shall never cease on the good road upward (cf. 1962). No contemporary or friend wrote a synopsis of his life in an encomium or biography the way that Gregory Nazianzen did for Basil. 335–394). We do not have the hundreds of personal letters that help us understand Basil’s course. But we do hope to sketch a few aspects of his personal and spiritual development. and that is. Something more is also ventured. 187–193 at 187. Thus he who ever stretches forward (Phil 3. The passage opens the Homily on the Sixth Psalm. to suggest the personal ground out which the letters arose and to oﬀer possible solutions to some opacities in the record. which brings about for the soul an ascent on high.BIOGRAPHY The ascents of Gregory The great St Gregory of Nyssa (c. or Gregory of Nyssa himself did for his sister Macrina.1
1 tØn t«n Íperkeim°nvn katanÒhsin. are disposed in their hearts for noble ascents. or Athanasius did for Antony of Egypt.13). The scope of this book does not allow us to incorporate an exhaustive analysis of the progress of his thought. being guided through lofty thoughts to the apprehension of transcendent realities. GNO 5 (Leiden: Brill. presents a more complex and perhaps sympathetic personality than do his great siblings Macrina and Basil. highly desirable though that would be. This introductory biography will attempt to provide a reasonable chronology and historical context within which to situate Gregory’s letters. according to the prophetic blessing (Ps 84.5). the most outstanding speculative thinker among the Greek Fathers between Origen and Maximus the Confessor. they are led by it to a still loftier thought. And often in the personal testimonies that do survive Gregory manages to reveal himself and yet remain somehow elusive. A key that can help us to do that is his own idea of progressive spiritual ‘ascents’:
Those who are progressing from strength to strength. Ps 84.

Nevertheless his resolute obedience to the call became for him personally a transforming path of virtue and of religious and intellectual development. thinker and saint. above all in service of the Faith and the Church. employing all the diﬀerent strands of sympathetic analysis and appreciation and a wide sweep of the sources. Gregory emerged from a somewhat conﬂicted and selﬁsh youth and young adulthood with a generous spirit which carried him far beyond his own natural bent to stay out of the religious and political fray and live a more cultured. he was far from an unqualiﬁed success on the stage of the world. yet advance in the spirit he did and very much so. The outstanding thing is that though Gregory’s course does not immediately present us with the same straightforward and austere focus on spiritual realities as do his great siblings. By his life’s end. stubbornesses. but in bravely answering to what was asked of him. contemplative. The time is perhaps not far oﬀ when a comprehensive biography of Gregory. Slowly at ﬁrst. ineptitudes and distresses became for him so many occasions of eventual spiritual breakthrough. the witness of his remarkable siblings. the prayers of his parents (so he reports Macrina’s view of it). In this way Gregory made his gradual ‘ascents’ to transcendent realities. Gifted with a keen intellect honed in rhetorical studies. which in the end was true freedom. and dare one say. dilettante life. he attained a breathtaking spiritual momentum that surely carried him into that eternity of unceasing advance in God of which he spoke so passionately and eloquently in his later writings. it is possible to see Gregory’s life falling naturally into several distinct periods. but steadily. man. and most importantly his own choices for a generous response. might be attempted. not in protecting his own inclinations.2
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By carefully probing of the sources.
. He exercised his freedom. A man both culturally sophisticated and almost childlike in his responses at times. through the grace which he mentions so often. It is to be hoped that the present introductory biography and edition of his letters in English may make a contribution to that end. all his setbacks. and to gain some sense of his spiritual progress—and dare we say on occasion regress— from one stage to the next.

the family successfully rebuilt its fortunes. Religiously. stocked the family library.5–6. Basil Senior’s parents were St Macrina the Elder and her husband. One cannot forbear quoting here Gregory Nazianzen’s eloquent praise of Emmelia’s fruitfulness.biography Early family life
3
Gregory of Nyssa was a scion of unarguably the most remarkable single family in the records of Christian piety. i. as was so often the case in other aristocratic Christian families. an intellectually engaged and potentially contemplative Christianity that St Gregory had brought with him from Palestine to Pontus.43 he mentioned the Cappadocians who were a match for anyone in their Christian education and learning. especially the philosophers. the capital of Pontus Polemoniacus. along with the pagan classics studied in the higher curriculum taught by Basil. Emmelia bore ten children. Macrina the Elder was a zealous custodian of the traditions of the church of Neocaesarea. Basil Senior. they were known for their early and tenacious adherence to Christianity. 330s and early 340s. which was proven in the days when it was not socially advantageous. Emmelia’s grandfather died a martyr. and his father. nine of whom survived infancy. The children were born during the family’s residence in Neocaesarea.
. both confessors of the faith during the last savage persecution in the eastern Roman empire under Maximin Daia (c. was a native of Neocaesarea. the disciple of Origen and apostle of Pontus. In nearly twenty years.e. 306–313). His mother. Socially both families were of the landed aristocracy. was a native of Cappadocia. The works of Origen and Philo. Basil Senior won high repute as a rhetorician and advocate in the city of Neocaesarea. women in many respects set the religious agenda of the family. While the men maintained the continuum with the professional and cultural standards of the time. he and other Christian aristocrats of this generation were exactly the kind Eusebius had in mind when in his Life of Constantine 4. both bodily and spiritual:
I marvelled when I looked on Emmelia’s family so great and so good— all the wealth of her mighty womb. And so especially through her. Emmelia. Though of Pontus.2 Through the 320s. but when I considered how she
2
Gregory Nazianzen Oration 43. the family tapped a stream of moderate Origenism. and that meant the memory of St Gregory Thaumaturgus.

this is what I said: ‘No wonder! The root itself is so great!’ This is the holy reward of your piety. 1. 335 at the earliest. you most excellent of women: the honour of your children. the great north road threading northern Anatolia from Constantinople to the eastern frontier at Satala. 345. that during a visit to Caesarea. from Constantinople to Armenia. for whom you had but one desire. Around the year 340 he became the subject of a spate of church indictments. born in c.6 It came to a head in a council held in Gangra.E. metropolis of Paphlagonia.3
The eldest of Basil and Emmelia’s children was St Macrina the Younger. 327. sons of his sister(s). 4. see my Asketikon p.7 in which a range of hyper-ascetic and anti-social excesses of the movement were censured.24.4 three other daughters. the third was Naucratius. 5 Basil wrote his Pros tous neous for his nephews. he met two venerable nuns who gave him relics of the Forty Martyrs which they had received from their maternal uncle (ab avunculo). 6 Sozomen H. the second was St Basil the Great. W.4
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was Christ’s cherished possession of pious blood. 486. 53. born in c. roughly in order. Theosebia who became a virgin with her elder sister at Annisa.15. 4 This date allows Gregory to be about twenty in 356 when he spent a few months studying under his brother Basil in 356. n. whom indeed he regarded as ‘father’. He states that he has the closest bonds of nature with them after their parents. For arguments supporting this traditional dating. from The Greek Anthology: Book Eight. 330. including one in Neocaesarea.5 and ﬁnally St Peter of Sebasteia. and my ‘The Date of Gangra and a Point of Comparison Between Basil’s Small and Great Asketikon’. Gaudentius of Brescia reports in Tractatus 17. the family made the acquaintance of a rather controversial ﬁgure. This would be near the end of the usual age for studies in rhetoric. 1919). some or all of whom were married. born in c. Eustathius sooner or later accommodated his style to some
3 Epigram 162. May. ‘Die Chronologie’ p. Basil. St Gregory of Nyssa. R. in about 340/341. born about the time of his father’s death in c. born in c. Eustathius of Sebasteia. the inspirer of a Christian ascetic movement whose inﬂuence was already being felt during the late 330s across northern Anatolia. 7 Other dates have been proposed. because an age diﬀerence of only one or two years hardly squares with the unqualiﬁed reverence Gregory had for his older brother.
. What appears to have happened is that in travelling to the capital Eustathius used to come up to Neocaesarea to join the Via Pontica. tr. so that henceforth the most appropriate dating of Gregory’s birth is between 335–340. While resident in Neocaesarea. 329. The epigram is translated afresh from the Greek. forthcoming in Studia Patristica. argues against the date of 331 proposed by Tillemont and followed by Aubineau. Paton (London: Heinemann. and then.

3. It was also about half a day’s journey north-west of Ibora and some fourteen days east of Constantinople. who had done such and such things on such and such occasions. After Basil Senior died in about 345. to the chorepiscopus Timothy whom the family knew as an immoderate ascetic when Basil was a boy. Letter 291. for he was certainly known to them at this early stage. and there is other evidence of the family’s contact with ascetics of his kind.9 Annisa was a day’s journey from the metropolis.375–377. Def. Her father made plans for her future betrothal. 4. After their father’s death. doubtless because there they had the backup of maternal uncles and family. She seized on virginity and asceticism for Christ. Emmelia relocated the family seat to a country estate called Annisa. Letter 244. the one state of an unattached woman accorded dignity in pagan GraecoRoman culture.1. Basil notes the services he rendered him as a child. it overlooked the fertile plain of Strabo’s Phanaroea to the south-east.
. Nothing her parents said had any eﬀect: she was adamant in her decision. who had taken up war against thousands because of his care (yerape¤aw) for one man—has now become diﬀerent from what he was’. 10 It long maintained toponymic continuity. being known as Sonnusa till 1958. because that very Basil who from childhood (§k paidÒw) had ministered (douleÊsaw) to the fellow (Eustathius) in such a way.448–51: ‘You seemed like one at a loss and amazed. in Christian families of the time would have taken place probably between 15 to 18. Basil completed the standard curriculum in Caesarea before Gregory
8 Basil.10 Basil was the only son old enough to have begun his rhetorical studies under his father. which. while maintaining a property portfolio with interests in three provinces. the focus of the boys’ formal education shifted to Caesarea of Cappadocia.biography
5
of these demands.192–197.8 In the year 340 Macrina was about 12. Def. But before that time came. High up on the slopes of a ridge.4. The Via Pontica ran past the villa’s front gate and on to the Roman bridge over the Iris. GNO 8. This was the starting point of the remarkable transformations in this family household that were to come. with marriage promptly following. Maraval 158–160. while claiming the social role of a ‘widow’. Today the Turkish town of Uluköy (‘high town’) occupies the site. At that moment the ﬁre of the young girl’s resolve was kindled. about eight kilometres west of the junction of the rivers Iris and Lycus. and more likely sooner. Otherwise it is diﬃcult to explain the credit he had in Basil’s and Emmelia’s family in the early 340s. the young man chosen as her future betrothed died. 9 VSM 7.

11 Meanwhile at Annisa. which would make him perhaps about 13/14 years old at the time. 14 VSM 11.
. Chryssaphius. at 21 years of age. the late 340s or early 350s.12 Their memory seems to have been close to his heart ever after. 12 On the Forty Martyrs 2. On one occasion when he was a neos. But ﬁve years later. He was his sister’s ﬁrst disciple. Maraval 164. while Gregory was yet to begin his. Naucratius and his former slave. L’inﬂuence de la seconde sophistique sur l’oeuvre de Gregoire de Nysse. 13 VSM 10.14 in the early spring of 356 a tragic accident occurred. his mother had urged him to take part in the celebration for the martyrs.6
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his younger brother ever began his. Traité de la Virginité. and made it their ascetic retreat. Traité de la Virginité.1. In about 351. While Naucratius was ﬁshing in the river. But he was preoccupied with other things (his beloved studies?). and only heeded her request very grudgingly.1. 1906. and it seems for this reason she esteemed him as her ‘dearest brother’. GNO 8. In about 349 Basil went to Constantinople in quest of further studies. found a spot in the wooded hills on the river Iris. his feet became entangled
11 See the discussion of Gregory’s education by Aubineau. 41–49.13 on the brink of a career as Christian rhetorician quit it all and chose the life of virginity and asceticism instead. Emmelia came into a precious possession: relics of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia.1. Falling asleep during the vigil he received a monitory vision of the martyrs that reduced him to tears. 378. reasonably accessible to his mother’s villa yet still at a distance. Maraval 168. that we must place an episode mentioned by Gregory in his second homily on the Forty Martyrs. It is around this period. draws an interesting parallel in the more serious religious crisis being undergone at just that time by another young Christian enamoured of Hellenic culture: the future emperor Julian. 51. p. GNO 8. Paris. At the head of bibliography on Gregory’s intellectual formation is Meridier. GNO 10. conﬁned to the estate of Macellum in Cappadocia from 345 to 351.1. Naucratius. a student in his early to mid teens. Aubineau. 159–169 at 167–168. and in which members of her family might be buried. It is interesting that the highly intellectual Gregory not infrequently shows himself susceptible to prophetic dreams and visions—compare the warning dream he received before he arrived at Annisa to ﬁnd his sister on her death-bed. She had a martyrion constructed in which to lodge the sacred urn of their ashes. 379.1. By that year Naucratius was well advanced in his own higher studies.

it helped precipitate another transformation in the household. • A Christian intellectual tradition of moderate Origenism.biography
7
in the nets.16 After consoling his mother and his siblings at Annisa it seems he spent a few months at his old school in Caesarea teaching rhetoric. Epigrams 156. In fact.24 Gregory Nazianzen tells of the anxiety and haste of Basil’s decision to leave. Peter. and he drowned beneath a sudden onrush of the waters. as Gregory Nazianzen tells us. was then about 10 or 11. • A Christian religious culture in which women played a leading role. Macrina. She used the tragedy to persuade her mother to dispense with the aristocratic manner and to put herself on a level with the virgins of the household and live with them a common life of ascetic endeavour.
16
15
. He was educated at home entirely under Macrina’s supervision in a religious spirit and hence was the only one of the brothers who did not follow the traditional course of rhetorical training.4
Gregory Nazianzen. We might sum up brieﬂy the elements that wove themselves into Gregory’s character from his family and social background as following: • The social cachet of the provincial landed aristocracy. In Or. • A favourable disposition towards the emergent ascetic movement. coming into her spiritual maturity. 356–363 In the summer of 356 Basil abruptly returned from Athens—very possibly in response to the news of Naucratius’ death. • A Christian praxis expressed in hospitality and service of the poor. • Family commitment to the Christian faith even to heroic resistance if need be. His younger brother Gregory was a student there. the youngest child. Young adulthood. • The cult of the martyrs. • The culture of hellenism maintained above all through rhetorical studies.15 It was a terrible shock to Emmelia and to the whole family. became spiritual mother to her own mother in this crisis. Book 8 of the Greek Anthology. 43. • The fostering of links with the local church. As Gregory tells in letter 13. 157 and 158.

304) full of praise at the high standards of rhetoric attainable in Caesarea of Cappadocia. Both had expressed an interest in whatever philosophic retirement Basil should devise for himself and wanted to meet him to talk about it. Aristotle. acquiring also the rudiments of science and more than the rudiments of medicine. 4. cit. After this brief stint in Caesarea Basil returned to Annisa for a visit. it is certain from a study of his own works that he underwent a thorough and wide training in rhetoric and philosophy. 48 He quotes a letter of Libanius. He even won the praise of the great Libanius for his rhetorical skills (letter 13). 45): ‘A défaut de l’auteur. It is interesting to note the communication between the two Gregorys and no doubt the beginning of their life-long friendship. above all Origen.
. 1222 (Förster. Petit.18 and while we do not know the names of his masters apart from Basil. he was baptised by Bishop Dianius. interrogeons son oeuvre’. See P. 18 As Aubineau says (op. He read deeply and retentively in Plato. Maraval. On p. whether on the way to or from his journey. 44–45 n. 11. 1957). From letter 14 it can be seen that on his way back he passed through Cappadocia. He spent the year 357 journeying through Egypt and Palestine apparently on the trail of Eustathius of Sebasteia (Letter 1). was impatient of talk and eager for praxis. Les étudiants de Libanius (Paris. Gregory would then have been about 19 or 20 years old. His brother Gregory was there. At Caesarea. Philo of Alexandria and Christian authors. so also was his friend Gregory who had by then returned from Athens. He did not wait
17 Libanius accepted students between 15 years and 20 years of age and considered it normal that eight years be spent on the study of rhetoric. Though he did not attend the more famous schools frequented by his brother and by Gregory Nazianzen. Plotinus and other platonizing philosophers.17 But Gregory for his part was very keen on rhetorical study. Possibly feeling emulous of Basil’s greater opportunities he stayed on at Caesarea. noting the way of life of the ascetics in these regions as he went. I was only suﬃciently puriﬁed by his divine tongue to be able to discern the deﬁciency of those uninitiated into discourse’. He found his life suddenly spun around by the timely spiritual intervention of Macrina. however. She recalled him from the worldly prospects he had been entertaining to Baptism and the Christian ascetic life. the Stoics. he brieﬂy had Basil as his teacher: ‘I was apprenticed to my brother only a short time. Basil.8
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to Libanius. Vie de Sainte Macrine. in the later stages of his studies. 139–144.

probably in this same year of 358. as can be seen at the beginning of letter 14. Basil attests in letter 223.19 Basil might have used ‘brother’ of Nazianzen if they were fellow bishops. but they are enough to suggest that between 358 to 363 Gregory of Nyssa did in fact participate in some way in the ascetic experiment at the mone near Annisa. the bishop’ in letter 33 is suspect of scribal interpolation. Eustathius. Alternatively one might just wonder if he preferred to sojourn at the villa rather than the mone. 3.
. This means that having ﬁnished his studies in Caesarea. currently the victim of Demosthenes’ politics abetted by Eustathius (see below). That implied or pointed to a commitment to celibacy. With Basil having cast the die in such practical fashion. Moreover. in the wooded gorge country north of the long ridge behind Annisa. and. on the river Iris.5 (Def. for at the time of writing (375/376 AD) he had reason to remind his addressee. as also did Gregory Nazianzen. at that early period Basil had often to refer to the two men of the same name in his inmost circle. and that Basil is somewhat overstating the position. since the letter concerns the aftermath of the death of his brother Caesarius. but he was certainly not a bishop then. The evidences are sketchy and allusive. Still. suggests
19 The phrase ‘our most God-beloved brother. and the strange light that seemed to come from his hut. of his old familiarity with his brother. That is proved by his undertaking the minor ministry of lector in the liturgy (Nazianzen’s letter 11). In the context we may be reasonably conﬁdent Basil is referring to his own brother and not to Nazianzen. With all the seriousness attaching to Baptism in that time and in that circle. that mysterious description in his Eulogy on Basil of Basil at prayer through the night. Gregory embraced Baptism.302–303) ‘our most God-beloved brother Gregory was present with me. the prospect of the ‘philosophic‘ life opened out before him. and he simply distinguished them by using ‘brother’ in the literal sense. almost as a corollary in his family context. and consistently in later letters. at least after a demonstrated period of perseverance. but at that stage it was not so. This can only refer to Gregory Nazianzen.biography
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around for them to sort out their ideas. but returned to Pontus. where in 358 he commenced his ascetic experiment at the very site left vacant by his brother Naucratius. achieving the same goal of life as myself ’. his brother Gregory ﬁnally joined him. Gregory.

and its reﬁnement and consolidation the achievement of the 370s. Ex 20. 384.21 Nazianzen’s letter 11 makes it clear that this was the path on which he was set when it mentions his ordination as a lector. as shown in the anthology of the great Alexandrian’s Peri Archon composed by Basil and Nazianzen at this period. empiric basis. the household at Annisa had to work out a schema whereby a house for men might be properly incorporated into the entire establishment. 21 According to the 11th canon of the council of Neocaesarea (315). was also part of the younger Gregory’s formative experience.1. manual work and prayer did not mean the cessation of appropriate intellectual endeavour.20 This may have been what Gregory himself saw in the distant wooded hills of the mone. was to be the special achievement of the 360s. at about 17 years of age.22 In short. In addition to his tentative status as an ascetic. Thus the essential features of a comprehensive monastic community were at last put in place.10
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something of a personal testimony. indeed the selective reading of Origen. at Annisa his father’s library was available.
20
. he never found cause to leave the villa for the retreat in the wooded hills by the river. He immersed himself in studying and chanting the scriptures. The critical study. in about 362/3. GNO 8. The kind of life lived by Basil and the male ascetics in the mone on the Iris was as yet on a somewhat freelance. an immaterial light ﬁlled the house by divine power which had no material source.’ Gregory attests a little later: ‘We know that he often entered the darkness where God resided’ [cf. 22 VSM 14. The crucible of these developments was Annisa. especially for men. The transformation was crowned by the providential sojourn of Basil there
‘At night [Basil] was illumined while at prayer in his house. Gregory was in line for eventual ordination to the priesthood at the canonical age of 30. In Basilium Fratrem GNO 10. the youngest in the family. to make his profession. We are told in the VSM that Peter never ceased to pursue the spiritual way in which his sister had guided him and that he supported Emmelia and Macrina at every stage of their endeavours. Meanwhile. Maraval 184. and that was when the time came for Peter. The zeal for poverty.21]. In fact. It may even be conjectured that a quite concrete event precipitated the ﬁnal transformation of the Annisa household into a fully constituted monastery.4–5. When he reached the earliest age suitable for profession.1. 127. the working out of a stable and ordered form of cenobitic life in Anatolia.

but this time continued with Basil and Gregory in his entourage. . without naming him. preached and taught among the ascetic communities of Pontus. The idea of Christian ascetic life promoted by him had a distinct social component and supported engagement with the Church at large. . and this meant for Basil.82 GNO 1. But there is something more. Not only Eustathius. The association with Eustathius had other consequences. where. ‘Virgins of God’.24 and had sampled for himself the full rigour of contemporary doctrinal strife and church politics.’23 A passing comment this. and this was a family worth cultivating by any serious church politician. Basil and his friends would come over to the villa for long discussions with the spiritual leader. NPNF ser. we would display the reason why. and for Gregory of Nyssa. 5. when he toured.
. So the ﬁnal shift from family villa to proto-monastic community probably took place around the time of Peter’s profession in the early 360s. but it conﬁrms that in 360. Eustathius of Sebasteia continued to stop at the family villa at Annisa whenever he travelled to and from Constantinople. an entrée to Church aﬀairs.5. but this entire homoiousian circle had a particular interest in the ascetic life. initially through his homoiousian connections.25 There is conﬁrmation of this in On Virginity 22. Eustathius was a metropolitan bishop anyway. In one of those all too brief autobiographical morsels.biography
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from 363–365. The fruit of this period was Basil’s Small Asketikon. By all indications the man was Basil of Ancyra. Eustathius paused as usual at Annisa. a trained physician and a leading homoiousian
23 24
Contra Eunomium 1. we did not plunge into the ﬁght. though present on the occasion. Gregory was in Basil’s—and Eustathius’—company. which was later much enlarged as the Great Asketikon. 2.43. The Small Asketikon reveals that the essential elements of the way of life at Annisa attested in the VSM are already in place by the mid 360s.50. as Basil himself reminds Eustathius in a passage of Letter 223. Gregory mentions that he has listened to a physician discourse on the four elements of the human body. we learn that Gregory was present along with Basil at the unhappy Council of Constantinople in 360: ‘But if he speaks of the events at Constantinople . since it was a convenient day’s journey from Neocaesarea along the Via Pontica. 25 This topic is canvassed at length by Elm. 106–136. One may suppose that in journeying to this Council.

On Virginity 22. Peter and the monastic community at Annisa in the period of 363–365. Mommsen and P. Nazianzen’s letter 11 makes it clear that Gregory at some stage chose instead to follow a secular career. and participating in their ascetic interests. Gregory underwent a more serious religious crisis in the mid 360s.27 The evidence is clear enough that around the year 360 Gregory was frequenting Annisa and moving in Basil’s circle and. This gives us a terminus a quo for Gregory’s decision for a change of life-style.5–6. Nazianzen does not suggest Gregory’s apostasy from the faith. which forbade the rhetorical profession to Christians. had entrée into Homoiousian circles. hoped that the younger Gregory would be more likely to listen to an older friend than to his own siblings—whose spokesman to some extent he was. its abrogation on 11 January 364 under Jovian.26 which canvasses the very same topic. Th. ed. No doubt Gregory Nazianzen. Gregory chooses a secular career. in sending letter 11.28 when the rhetorical profession once again became possible for Christians. It would not have taken place during Julian’s time.
27
26
. Macrina. 137–142 and notes. M. The context of such a decision is the Emperor Julian’s famous law of 17 June 362. because in his letter 11. through Eustathius of Sebasteia. pp. 364 If we saw the hint of a religious crisis in Gregory’s youth. Traité de la Virginité.3. though no doubt a lurking suspicion of it contributed to the scandal his decision evoked. 28 Codex Theodos. Despite his beginnings in a life oriented to asceticism and the clerical path.2 (Berlin. Gregory seems to have heard him reading his On true virginity. When he wrote this letter Gregory Nazianzen appears to having been visiting Basil.12
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bishop. He was being initiated into their theological and ecclesial concerns. See Aubineau. 1954). Paradoxically. 13. 513. and after Julian’s death in July 363. Meyer 1. These were the very years Basil had withdrawn from the presbyterate of Eusebius of Caesarea. Basil had but lately come north from Cappadocia. But
PG 30 669–809. 741–742. whereas his brother Gregory now went in the reverse direction. an impulse of adolescent rebellion perhaps. and the occasion was the council of 360. attributed falsely to St Basil.

who. Perhaps the very approach to such a moment helped precipitate the crisis. Socially Julian had stirred up an enthusiasm for traditional Hellenism—a sort of neo-conservatism or archaism—and this movement remained au courant for some time after his death. 64. in a sense. Mémoires 9.biography
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despite the conjectures of commentators such as Tillemont. Gregory continued in the profession of rhetoric in Caesarea until he became a bishop. beginning with Caesarius. the canonical age for ordination to the presbyterate at 30 years looming near.29 there is no evidence that his remonstrance had any eﬀect whatever. op. cit. p. as we have seen. remarks that Tillemont was aﬀected by the contemporary concerns of Vincent de Paul and Ollier for the adequate training of candidates for the priesthood. Gregory Nazianzen however suggests a more worldly motive: ambition. 30 See the comments of Aubineau. With the resurgence of the Anomoian theological party in Julian’s reign.
29 Tillemont. had witnessed the distasteful council of Constantinople in 360.
. given his education. Gregory of Nyssa. p.30 Gregory allowed himself to be caught up in this enthusiasm at precisely this moment. cit. One might speculate on the motives of Gregory’s decision.. Aubineau. The inchoate monastic life for men in which he had dabbled was not yet on a ﬁrm canonical basis. for it is certain that engagement in it would have been expected of him if he had become a priest. Perhaps the younger Gregory still felt somewhat disadvantaged by the greater opportunities enjoyed by his brother and by Nazianzen himself. the line of least resistance.4 may be taken to describe his dispositions in 364: ‘I devoted myself assiduously to the whole course of study and became enamoured of the beauty that is yours [i. When the opportunity presented itself (an invitation from his old school?). 78. there was even more doctrinal turbulence in the Church than before if possible—an outcome deliberately compassed by Julian. Rhetoric]’. His comments to Libanius in letter 13.564. op. and felt he had something to prove. he took. and this may be close to the mark. social standing and the church circles in which he moved. may have had little stomach for facing even more such turmoil at this stage. and there were examples to hand of baptised celibates pursuing secular careers.e. It is surely signiﬁcant that in 364 he would have been in his late twenties..

235) speaks of keeping his ‘virginity’. Nevertheless. but in Caesarea. 2. As to a ‘monk in the world’. a baptised celibate in a secular profession (a physician). Firminus in his reply. but whose faith was at risk in the current circumstances. a nephew of Gregory Nazianzen. 1. He was a devout Christian and professional man (a lawyer) who desired to turn to the ascetic life. Gregory’s case diﬀers from the above in that he took up the life of a secular ascetic after he had already lived in a quasi-monastic setting and was disposing himself for priesthood.14
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and one very congenial for one so attracted to Hellenism. The trajectory of the young Amphilochius. his commitment to celibacy. each revealing sentiments similar to those of letter 11 to Gregory of Nyssa. at least initially.155). written in 368. Gregory was far from renouncing his Christian faith and perhaps. Compare Nazianzen Letter 7. Gregory Nazianzen’s brother. Letter 117 (Def. And so Gregory commenced the life of a teacher of the higher curriculum. and of course. In letter 116. but proposed to combine his religious faith with participation in civil life and a secular career. in which he implores Caesarius to quit the secular life altogether. Basil writes to Firminus in the army. Spiritually he would be something of a ‘monk in the world’.233). and was persuaded to put himself under Basil’s direction. the writings of the Cappadocian fathers yield some interesting examples of would-be secular ascetics. In fact Gregory wrote two letters to his brother at widely spaced intervals. Gregory’s own father. The outstanding case is Caesarius. shows aspects similar to those of Gregory’s course. in an earlier generation there was the example of Basil of Neocaesarea. written during the reign of Emperor Julian. He stepped aside from the path to the priesthood and decided to follow his father’s example and become a professor of rhetoric. he eventually became bishop of Iconium and the great conﬁdant of Basil’s ﬁnal years. Yet even here there is a curious parallel. only not in Neocaesarea. to use later terms. enquiring after his asceticism (Def. Publicly. Gregory Nazianzen’s letter 177 to Eudoxius
. in which he anxiously warns his brother Caesarius. who was then as Gregory of Nyssa became. he would cut the ﬁgure of a Christian rhetor. Compare also Basil’s Letter 26 to Caesarius (Def. Compare also letter 20. 2. Contemporary examples of Christian rhetors were Prohairesius in Athens and Marius Victorinus in Rome.

he was in a spiritual backwater.biography
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precisely addresses a man who appears to have adopted a career in rhetoric after having previously been in monastic life. Basil at any rate. or ‘yolk-fellow’. see the study of the sources in the notes prefacing Nazianzen’s letter 197 in this volume. was certainly instrumental in Gregory’s spiritual regeneration. then practising rhetoric in Caesarea. spiritually reborn twice. Whatever other factors and personal inﬂuences were at work. especially chapter 3. Some further beckoning call. of which more in the next two sections. Was Gregory married? In order to discuss Gregory’s life in the period 364–372. On the question of Theosebia’s identity. Indeed. his celibate commitment. His brother Peter suggests something of what happened in letter 30. as he committed himself to a religious vocation again. it is necessary to face a question already discussed by church writers and scholars for some centuries: was Gregory of Nyssa married or unmarried? There are two primary texts in favour of the case that Gregory was married: • On Virginity 3 where Gregory described himself as cut oﬀ by a gulf from the glory of virginity. The
. Nevertheless. • Gregory Nazianzen’s letter 197. he was barely marking time.6: ‘now however. it was a state in life which put a whole-hearted dedication to spiritual progress under severe stress. some impetus from without was needed for Gregory’s inner reawakening. a more remarkable grace than if he had never lapsed at all from his earlier purpose. Gregory was in a sense. you show such good will towards him [Basil] who led you to the light through his spiritual travail’. to be recalled to a higher purpose. his syzygos. to say the least. written to console the younger Gregory on the death of Theosebia. that Basil’s election as bishop in Caesarea created just the circumstances that made it possible for Gregory of Nyssa. he did not ﬁnd himself equal to the proposal. Gregory then. It is one of the great providential chain of events. We have his own word for it in his comments on his own situation in On Virginity. at least to begin with. did not abandon his Christian profession or perhaps. Spiritually speaking.

Still. they are the truly enviable who realise what is beyond all prayer and desire. 32 GNO 8.
. as we have done.32
Other passages in On Virginity also tell against celibacy for Gregory. How blessed if it were not so. The whole question therefore comes down to the evidence of On Virginity 3. So we are but spectators of the beauties that belongs to others and witnesses of the blessedness of others. considering that though in the prefatory letter Gregory refers to Basil as ‘our most God-beloved bishop and father’. a virgin ascetic in Macrina’s mould who lived in close association with him at Nyssa. p. Gregory as a practicing rhetorician addressing students best ﬁts the context of this letter. or a waterfall to the thirsty if the water cannot be reached. who are hindered Ätew from the glory of virginity (tÚ t∞w paryen¤aw kaÊxhma) as by a gulf. Gregory did revise his work later when he was a bishop. being written in 371. we experience the same as the cooks and attendants who ﬂavour the tablefare of the rich. This is very ﬁtting. those engagements in worldly activities that hinder attention to the more divine life. and citing Basil’s reference to their uncle Gregory in letter 58. but do not themselves partake of what they have prepared. but his own sister.31 We might hope that it aﬀords some hints of Gregory’s preoccupations and experiences in the years immediately preceding and we shall ﬁnd that an in-depth reading does not disappoint. Blessed are they who are in a position to choose the better things and are not debarred by having previously chosen the common life (t“ ko¤nƒ prolhfyen b¤ƒ).16
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conclusion there is unambiguous: Theosebia was not Gregory’s wife. But as things are.9–10) which goes round and round the threshing ﬂoor. 159). if we had not come to recognize the beauty through reﬂection all too late. who are not excluded from the power of enjoying these goods. The strongest evidence that Gregory was married is in the following passage:
But as things are. Gregory twice refers to the diﬃculties of ‘the more common life’ (toË koinot°rou b¤ou). my knowledge of the beauties of virginity (t«n t∞w paryen¤aw kal«n) is in some measure sterile and useless to me as is the grain to the muzzled ox (1 Cor 9. And even if we come to some ﬁtting conception of virginity. this does not exclude his being a bishop himself.1. since On Virginity marks the end of the phase of Gregory’s life under discussion. But when he proposes models who can show the way to
31 Daniélou has questioned this (‘Chronologie’. In the letter prefacing the treatise. 247–343 at 256. to which one cannot return once one has set one’s foot on the path of the worldly life (t“ kosmik“ b¤ƒ).

But when he begins to detail what ‘this burdensome way of life’ entails. a numbered index of chapters with chapter titles.e. i. to which most manuscripts belong. he perceives all too late the beauty of the ideal he had observed lived at close quarters by his sisters Macrina and Theosebia. he immediately refers to the unmarried (égam¤&) or celibate saints. not simply because his secular career keeps him distracted from spiritual realities. he realises the obtuseness and dullness of his lapse of spiritual vision that made such a decision possible.33 The editor. Indeed he had tentatively participated in it. but because he forsook virginity of body by choosing to marry instead. Preface 217–246. he immediately speaks of marriage. ultimately grouped the three text families and the independent manuscripts into two streams of tradition. and chapter-titles in the body of the text. One stream.biography
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attain ‘true virginity’. He now feels the full force of his season of refusal. In short. Naucratius and Peter. He considers himself disqualiﬁed from ‘the boast of virginity’. and his brothers Basil. some of them still living—notably and speciﬁcally his brother Basil. De Virginitate. Text 247–343.
. Cavarnos (ed. In chapter 1 he does not elide over bodily virginity in favour of the higher virginity. With longer experience and upon reﬂection.). 1963). also in concrete fashion. preceded by a brief general
33 John P. In Chapter 3. Conﬁrmation that the argument of On Virginity 3 points to Gregory’s married status is found in the critical edition of On Virginity. he says that he himself is cut of from ‘the boast of virginity’ by having committed himself to the ‘worldly life’. The other stream originally had none of these elements. but insists on the ‘incorruption’ and ‘purity’ that are proper to the bodily state alone. the choice of marriage. contains a full apparatus of prefatory letter. GNO 8. Cavarnos. In chapter 2 he speaks of ‘the immaculate Mary’ (as he does several times in the treatise) through whose quite bodily virginity—her ‘incorruption’ or physical integrity—‘the fullness of divinity shone forth in Christ’. choosing marriage or not is a point of departure in the spiritual project of which he speaks. All these resonances mean that he himself is involved in this primary element of ‘the worldly life’ of the passage cited above. as we have seen. ‘the more common life’.1 (Leiden: Brill. and seems only to have begun some way into the current text of Chapter 1.

317 ﬀ. Morell in Paris in 1638. We are in the realm of informed guesswork. and republished by Migne. He concluded in favour of the second explanation: the additions and alterations that make up the longer version come from Gregory himself.
Further soundings in ON VIRGINITY Gregory then. There was at ﬁrst just one text. Seeking an explanation for the discrepancies.18
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text suitable as a general introduction. though not to Theosebia. His ascetic sister Theosebia must be allowed to have spent some considerable time with him at Nyssa for
34 Codex Vaticanus graecus 1907. parchment. Since these are the words of Gregory they put the matter beyond all doubt:
gÄ. Further soundings in On Virginity yield some valuable hints. resulting in two distinct traditions of text. PG 46. One manuscript ‘S’.34 shows the shorter text with later elements such as uneven chapter titles and division of the work that crept in from scribal notes in the margin that had been copied later from a manuscript of the fuller version.
. Cavarnos considered two possibilities: 1. we have a few considerations to go by. using familiar elements of Gregory’s vocabulary:
≤ d¢ ékolouy¤a t«n nohmãtvn §st‹n aÏth: This is the sequence of thoughts/
conceptions. for example. we press on with our enquiry.
But most to the point. ‘A reminder of the diﬃculties of marriage
and proof that the writer of the treatise is not unmarried. This can be seen. There are. but from this point on. was deﬁnitely married. and conﬁrming our reading of On Virginity is the title to Chapter 3. in the way the index of chapters is introduced after the prefatory letter. or 2. With these co-ordinates in place. we pass increasingly from concrete evidence to possibilities and probabilities. MnÆmh t«n §k toË gãmou dusxer«n ka‹ ¶ndeijiw toË tÚn gegrafÒta tÚn logon mØ êgamon e‰nai: 3. There were in fact two editions of the work by the author himself. of the 13th century. The text of this manuscript is closest to the text of the printed edition ﬁrst published by A. In estimating the timing and tenor of Gregory’s marriage. Not the least of the reasons are that these elements are so much in his style. later altered by scribes. of course. no index of chapters and no chapter titles.

Gregory’s wife. But. because they listened to the one who said of Wisdom (a feminine ﬁgure). and her own complete anonymity.biography
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her to be lamented in the mid 380s as his companion. so it is possible to discern in the later part of On Virginity 23 a series of implicit allusions to Basil. one might attempt to dredge it for a few more clues as to what might have happened in the years immediately preceding. She would surely never have been thought of in this capacity if his wife had still been his companion. That he ﬁrst points to Basil as the living model of the monastic life and the spiritual father par excellence is perfectly clear. 383–384. Macrina. specially with the paucity of writing from Gregory’s earlier period. It seems that Peter here is the living example of what he means. Just as in the prefatory letter he refers clearly to Basil without expressly naming him. is implicitly accorded the role of Wisdom:35 ‘Sailing through the waves of youth with that tree as if
35 The sketch of the two in VSM 14 (GNO 8. What would she make of her husband’s essay of such a topic? How would it help build up their marriage? Would she pass it oﬀ lightly as the foolish exaggerations required by rhetorical art and none of it really meant. certainly not in On Virginity even though he had occasion to let it be known that he had in fact forsaken celibacy. He then refers to the young who have anticipated old age by their steadfast and vigorous love of wisdom rather than of bodily pleasures.
. therefore. there is never a mention of her in his or the other Cappadocians’ works. must have died sooner rather than later—but how soon? Although arguments from silence are dangerous.18). if this example is too lofty. 180–184) fully backs up such an interpretation. A sensitive reading elicits some interesting pointers. it is diﬃcult to imagine her listening with equanimity to this ﬁrst foray of her husband into the literary life. Macrina. and in On Virginity 20 rehearses implicitly the spiritual history of his own family and of Macrina herself. Since On Virginity is Gregory’s earliest extant work. and that his brother’s preceptress. with his harrowing treatment of the trials of married life and the spiritual obstacles inherent in it. the general tenor and context of the treatise makes much more sense if we suppose that the author was already a widower. If his wife were still alive at the time of this treatise. he says. Peter—and himself.1. Maraval. look at the ‘chorus of saints’ around him. of course? No. she is the tree of life to those who grasp her (Prov 3.

their soul is not washed by the waves’. and why. The content of the treatise is determined entirely by rhetorical genre. instead of a bridal chamber. nothing in what Gregory says in On Virginity is necessarily sincere or oﬀers a clue to his own dispositions and experiences. This theme of regret for an earlier high ideal now lost recurs several times through the work. GNO 8. Gregory is not such a topoi driven paragon of artful insincerity even while exercising rhetorical skill. He speaks vividly of the death of a wife and child. and of the plight of the husband so unexpectedly bereaved. and now. still at the peak of desire. 37 On Virginity 3.’ Needless to say. the art seems to clothe a core of deep feeling:
Still burning with aﬀection. death has provided a tomb. for this reason. If so. they have moored in the harbour of God’s will. But then Gregory comes to his own case: ‘Why (the Greek adds untranslatably a ﬁrst person singular datives moi) are you so curious about some who have had intentions along these lines but faltered. 96). recollections of one’s former life. ‘Rhétorique et diatribe dans un plaidoyer pour la virginité’ (83–96). After tracing the theme ‘should one marry?’ in late philosophers and early Christian writers.20
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on a raft. complaints against friends who did not prevent it. it is an exercise in staged rhetorical pleading. it means that Gregory himself was one who initially undertook the same ideal as lived in so exemplary a fashion by Basil and Macrina. in tranquillity and calm. Aubineau concludes (96): ‘il plaide sur un theme d’emprunt qu’il développe manifestement sans conviction. some passages seem invested with a personal note. do you despair as if the project were impossible?’ Due to its position in the sequence of examples this is manifestly a description of his own case.36 One in particular is suggestive of what may well have happened in his own case. the approach here strongly dissents from such a time-worn reductionist critique.37
36 In Aubineau’s assessment any reading of a personal note in On Virginity is an ‘erreur d’interpetation’ (Traité de la Virginité p.
. If one could sum up his Chapter II. or at least of the wife during her ﬁrst labour. one is suddenly bereft as in a nightmare. and by the young Peter. There are foolish shouts and the wringing of hands. nevertheless. curses against those who advised the marriage. And after this? One is besieged by relatives as if by the enemy. Notwithstanding Gregory’s rhetorical aims.1. While there may be an element of rhetorical furor in the tableaux presented by Gregory. Now. Callahan 16. Gregory lacks moderation and indulges too quickly in the conventions of pathos. without having experienced the sweetest things of life. 261. but that he defaulted from his original purpose.

1. little by little. Hence the passage in On Virginity 9 describes one who in youth was disposed towards vocational celibacy. they alter the direction of their thought from the more divine to the lowly and the material and open up for themselves a wide channel for the passions . though it may not compass Gregory’s case in detail:
We ourselves have known many. refers patently to himself:
If you want to learn the disadvantages of the more common life. through recourse to legitimate pleasures. listen to what they say who know this life through experience. as in our analogy of the stream. Towards the end of this chapter is an appeal that. When he begins to detail the handicaps of marriage in On Virginity 3 he expresses above all an overpowering sense of the precariousness that hangs over the promise of this earthly happiness. If we are right to discern some personal quality amid these rhetorical set pieces. ‘If only it were possible to know the things of experience before we experience them!’ he laments. For once they have admitted such an experience. however diﬀused as a general statement in the plural. from their earliest age. who. then. in On Virginity 14. Callahan 35. .
Later. 287.38
At the very end of On Virginity 13 svfrÒsunh (moderation) refers to sexual continence and speciﬁcally dedicated virginity (in a passage that fairly describes Macrina’s spiritual motherhood). in speaking of the kinds of misfortune (t«n sumfor«n) that beset marriage—most of them involving death—he concludes: ‘The longed-for delights and joys and pleasures and
38
On Virginity 9 GNO 8. how they bless the life of those who chose a life in virginity from the beginning and did not belatedly learn through misfortune (diå sumforçw) which was the better. and the ‘reversal of fortune’ (t∞w metabol∞w) that mock human expectations. but whose participation in seemingly lawful and permissible pleasures became the beginning of life on a low level.
. . Again and again he speaks of the ‘sudden reversals’ (éyrÒvw ta›w metabola›w). but who later. the desirable (tÚ §piyumhtikÚn) is wholly changed for them. appeared especially to be lovers of moderation (§raståw mãlista t∞w svfrosÊnhw).biography
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What can ‘recollections of one’s former life’ mean? The following passage is suggestive. and given that we have already established that Gregory’s wife must have died sooner than later then it seems more than possible that Gregory himself experienced some kind of dire misfortune in his married life. fell from this early spiritual promise.

Firstly. They may not be quite ready for the strong meat of Basil’s Asketikon and his detailed provisions for life in the monastic communities. he had already experienced it by the time of writing in 370/371.401–402. and stayed much of her time with the virgins. but under the guidance of the way of life over of which Basil is the acknowledged master. But instead of their marrying in the meantime. What is noteworthy. Gregory in some way associates himself in the same ascetic purpose—which makes all the more sense if he is a widower renegotiating his own spiritual path. and that not in any freelance fashion. If such a calamity came upon Gregory’s married life. who ‘made the great Macrina the guardian and guide of her widowhood. and then Exodus 19. it brought to a premature end for him the promise of earthly marriage. the life of the monastic communities.22
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whatever else is hoped for in marriage come to an end in such pains as these (ta›w toiaÊtaiw Ùduna›w). He plays the same role as Basil himself toward the disillusioned young lawyer Amphilochius in Letter 150. in the case of the noble widow Vetiana. The interesting thing is that a few lines later. for whom was he writing? In the prefatory letter he describes his work as ‘advice to the young (toÁw n°ouw) to follow in the footsteps of one who has gone before them’—namely Basil.2 (GNO 8. But most interestingly.1. but above all Christian students in the schools of rhetoric in Caesarea. this school of virtue is called the ‘chorus of parthenia’. It might even be possible to discern Gregory’s purpose more closely. learning from them the life of virtue’.22 which applies the practice to priests. The work therefore. but that is the direction in which Gregory wishes to nudge them. Maraval.39 This at any rate
39 Is it possible for someone not to be a virgin physically and yet make progress in parthenia? That seems to be implied in VSM 30. The work ends with much talk of the priesthood. just referred to as ‘our most reverend bishop and father’. and we are perhaps somewhat startled at the recourse to Exodus 19.15 which encourages sexual abstinence as a preparation for theophany. Gregory is targeting his own students who might be thinking of enrolling themselves in the clergy for eventual ordination. is a protreptic aimed at persuading young men to adopt the life of virginity for the Lord—and not just any young men. he wants to attract them to the ideal of virginity for the Lord. A better idea of Gregory’s situation as he wrote On Virginity is now possible. as seems possible if not probable.
. 234).

or perhaps now. the experience of some sharp grief in his married life.40 so that it is possible to walk in such footsteps and have a share in it. For him it is a supremely valuable gift that only begs to be steered to its highest end. Moreover the treatise shows him already displaying great rhetorical power. steeped in ‘the holy books’. We should not be deceived by the status of On Virginity as a ‘juvenile work’ or by his own selfdeprecations. its dignity is ﬂourishing and taking root in our life (§pixvriãzei tª biƒ ≤m«n). setbacks and shocks—through his early gravitation to the ascetic life and to eventual ordination. the mystical themes that he will develop in a consistent pattern many years hence are already present as germinating seeds. Here in his ﬁrst work. he is already possessed of a deep religious spirit. he shows in these pages a remarkable maturity of spiritual insight and discourse. if ever. as a result of subsequent question and answer sessions in the communities. Then the soul will reach out without ceasing towards the ultimate and incomparable beauty of God. Gregory here is no beginner in rhetorical discourse or in Christian thinking. for the ﬁrst time. able to propose a well thought-out religious anthropology in support of virginity for the Lord. . he has maintained or picked up again the spiritual thread though a series of life’s mistakes. his season of great refusal. Observe the recurring ﬁrst person plural:
For examples of the beneﬁts of this life of ours (tØn z≈hn ≤m«n) are not lacking. Look to him [Basil] as your rule of life (tÚn kanÒna toË b¤ou). notwithstanding Gregory’s recurring sense of having defaulted from the better choice.biography
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seems to be the drift of such passages as the following in On Virginity 23.
40 This refers to the ongoing additions to Basil’s Asketikon. being made accurate in the highest degree by gradual additions to it. Somehow. He integrates his experience of sexuality as a married man by his aﬃrmation of ‘the erotic power’. and. He has caught the spiritual élan again. to be ﬁlled with the fragrance of Christ .
Finally. This man has suﬀered. and so on up to the present moment. well armed with Plato and other philosophers thoroughly digested. following after the scent of the perfume.
. his switch to a secular career and to marriage. God has made him as a model for our life (t°yeike skopÚn ı YeÚw tª ≤met°r& zvª). Indeed now especially. .

370. GNO 8.2. his uncle Gregory the bishop was no supporter of Basil the teacher of ascetics in his election as of metropolitan bishop. 376. possibilities and probabilities considered above a scenario for Gregory’s marriage. Maraval 142–143.251. One may wonder whether the experience of his own brother may have contributed to this elaboration of a discipline of vows for monks.111.371–372.41 In one of those painful episodes of family strife. Deferrari 3.
. The private commitment of secular male ascetics had no particular standing in the church. Recall that the young Emmelia’s aspiration to virginity was not supported by her guardians.1.42 In this connection it is worth recalling Basil’s provision of the ﬁrst speciﬁc vow of virginity/celibacy for male ascetics in Longer Responses 15. Canon 19.24
biography Gregory’s marriage: a scenario
It is time to synthesize from the evidences. He had every intention of maintaining his Christian faith.43 where he held it equivalent to the sin of fornication. The passage cited above where he pictures the bereaved husband ruing those who had persuaded him to marry or did not prevent the marriage is suggestive. where he treated it more seriously as equivalent to the oﬀence of forsworn virgins. Only they would be recognized who made their vow properly in the context of a monastic community. It would appear that if Gregory had once been
41 42 43 44
VSM 2. His maternal family in Cappadocia seems unlikely to have favoured marriage over asceticism. and in letter 21744 written in c. There he would pursue a career as a professor of the higher curriculum.e. canonically recognized state in life equivalent to that of professed virgins. See Basil letters 60. 58. and insofar as he was already committed to the ascetic life in Pontus. perhaps he persuaded himself that he could continue as a secular ascetic like Caesarius. early in 364 Gregory departed Annisa in Pontus for Caesarea in Cappadocia on a wave of enthusiasm for traditional Hellenism. and the penance he proposes for the forswearing of celibacy by monks in letter 199. Firstly. It did not take long however for this somewhat invidious situation to be worn down. Deferrari 3. which may be dated to c. i. Basil was responsible for elevating the profession of celibacy by male ascetics from its earlier more empiric status to the echelon of an ecclesiastically witnessed. adultery.

The ﬁrst of these was
According to P. died at her ﬁrst conﬁnement. it might be possible to admit Daniélou’s suggestion after all and consider Cynegius as his natural son and date his birth accordingly. and addressing the doctrinal problems of the church by organising what can now be called the Neo-nicene front among the bishops of Eastern Anatolia and Syria. a regime that was now obsolete.
45
. From about 369 onwards a series of events fostered renewed contacts with his other ascetic siblings in Annisa. which we might tentatively date to late 365/366.biography
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implicitly committed to celibacy. Les étudiants de Libanius (Paris. 139–144. Gregory then established his career and married. If we put his age in 380 at about 14/15 years. It is uncertain whether. whose name we shall never know. 365–372 If one takes the point of view of the Hound of Heaven. it was under the freelance regime of male ascetics of earlier times. It was a moment rich with ironies when he found his masterful brother returning to Caesarea at the end of 365 as bishop Eusebius’ right hand man. When Gregory went down to Caesarea he left Basil behind as the preacher and promoter of the ascetic life in Pontus. Libanius took students between about 15–20 years old. 57. that would date his birth to about 365/366. Tragedy soon followed however. inculcating the care of the poor and hospitality to strangers. possibly late in 364 or in the spring of 365. 1957). Letters 13 and 14 show a situation in 380/381 where Cynegius has commenced his studies under Libanius. guiding and promoting the ascetic communities. and it is a fair guess that his wife. Gregory met Libanius in Antioch in 379 and almost certainly broached the possibility of his taking on Cynegius as a student who was then approaching the age for higher studies. Intriguingly. in the years 388–389 Libanius had another student called Cynegius. at least where Basil’s reforming inﬂuence was in the ascendant. Petit. Gregory observed Basil increasingly assume the leadership of the church under Eusebius.45 Goads and transitions. the child also died. If not. p. as in the graphic description in On Virginity 3. there were other goads to Gregory’s spirit during this phase of his life which kept him mindful of a higher spiritual purpose.

Maraval 232. suggesting that it was in its later stages and that recruitment of resources was underway.47 Gregory himself tells us of these episodes. in mid September 370. 57. Here the historical obscurity lifts a little and we can verify a few features of this period. 49 GNO 1.1. Gregory had acquired his own dignity and social status as a sought after professor of rhetoric in Caesarea. Basil was elected bishop to succeed Eusebius. Basil appears to have promptly advanced Peter to the presbyterate.401.103. which event must also have given Gregory pause for thought. VSM 28. more precisely.
47
46
. Maraval 184. not the least in the very Letter which otherwise is no great monument to brotherly concord: letter 58. From all these inﬂuences but from Basil in particular. the only communication of Basil to Gregory that has survived. The sequence of the narrative means either that the famine immediately preceded that event.
VSM 14. to judge from Basil’s letter 31 to Eusebius of Samosata. in Oration 43.384. 50 Gregory Nazianzen.1. such as Basil’s two sermons on the famine and his mission to disturb the wealthy into Christian generosity towards their poor. 122. Basil recognized his brother’s gifts and the excellent qualities of his person and wished they might be put to serve the Church’s needs.26
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the severe famine that beset central Anatolia in about 369 or 370. Basil’s esteem for his brother can be traced in remarks sprinkled throughout his early letters. Twice he had cause to recall Basil’s toils to provide relief through the famine. in his Eulogy on Basil 48 and Contra Eunomium 1.50 It was an interesting position for Gregory to ﬁnd himself in: he a prominent Christian rhetorician in the secular schools of Caesarea. The latter is more likely. 48 GNO 10. or that it was still in progress. the pressure on Gregory subtly and not so subtly worked.6. written in early-mid 371. where he mentions that ‘the famine has not yet released us’. GNO 8. There are several hints of exchanges between Pontus and Cappadocia at this period.49 Also at ‘about that time’. GNO 8. taken together with the prominent role played by the monastery at Annisa at that period.36–37 follows his account of Basil’s labours during the famine with Basil’s episcopal election.5.1. and his brother the new metropolitan bishop. Peter organised famine relief 46 and Macrina in particular left her seclusion to scour the roadsides for abandoned children. a pressure beckoning him towards wholesale commitment to service of the church.

she was about 60/61 when she died. Then. Basil began to have some success in enlisting his brother’s gifts. listened with fresh ears. Emmelia must have died then between Eusebius’ presence at Basil’s election in September 370. It synthesizes the fruits of his observations at Annisa in recent years and of spiritual conversations with his sister Macrina. She is the living ideal
VSM 23. discussed at length above. If Emmelia was about 17/18 when she gave birth to Macrina in c. in late 370 or early 371. again at ‘about that time’ their mother. Maraval 212–213. In letter 215.52 Such a family watershed occasioned visits to Annisa and exchanges with Macrina.3 Basil pictures to himself what a meeting between Pope Damasus of Rome and Gregory as an envoy might be like. in the year between Basil’s accession to the episcopate and Gregory’s own episcopate that Gregory’s ﬁrst work survives: On Virginity. Gregory came to Annisa. Emmelia. written in the interval between the ﬁrst and the later editions of Basil’s Asketikon. as Gregory tells it against himself in the VSM: ‘Do you not recognise the cause of such great blessings. 392. since you have nothing in you. See Basil. In letter 19 he fervently and sincerely calls Macrina a ‘mother in place of my mother’. caught in a sort of spiritual pincer movement between the likes of Basil on the one hand and Macrina and Peter on the other. or very little. Basil’s worry over Gregory’s aptitude as a man of aﬀairs is conﬁrmed by Macrina’s comments on Gregory’s current prominence. GNO 8. saw with chastened eyes. and decides to retire the thought from service. which surely means that his sister used the grief of the moment to steer her brother to higher spiritual realities. just as she had once done with Emmelia herself after the shock of Naucratius’ death. 327. letter 30 to Eusebius of Samosata. Gregory’s thoughts on his own spiritual situation had been maturing through the events of the past few years.e. i. He had little prospect of being left to paddle in the spiritual shallows.4. died. and they culminated in this work. and pondered. It is from this period. and Basil’s correspondence with Eusebius after the long winter of 370–371. and we have his famous remarks on the ‘naïvité’ and ‘simplicity’ of his brother’s sense of politics.1. to prepare you for this?’51 Poor Gregory.biography
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Basil shrewdly read Gregory’s character at this stage. Peter and the monks and virgins there. which marked for him personally a moment of passage.
52
51
. that the prayers of your parents are lifting you on high. written in early-mid 371.

28) and Christ is all things to all human beings (cf. He will not busy himself with his bodily strength or his appearance or with exercising his body or fattening his ﬂesh. 63–4. Callahan. I know the dowry in this wedding does not consist of corruptible things but of what is given us as a gift from the special wealth of the soul . to the Emperor among Basil’s letters. and perhaps in the care of his son. a family respected not because of its earthly possessions. for since. but wealthy in the way that is most desirable. The political circumstances were not such as to recommend appeals to the Arian emperor Valens from the leaders of Neo-nicene orthodoxy in Caesarea. even to the foolish. by looking at Macrina:
The person courting a spiritual marriage will. If there is any possibility of Gregory’s authorship of letter 365. prompted him to write an
53
GNO 8.28
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of parthenia that underpins the discourse. included here as letter 37. but the good fortune that comes from the toil and eﬀort of one’s own accomplishments. the true lover of wisdom has as his goal the Divine One who is true wisdom. 1 Cor 28). and it may be that Basil. allusions to his sister quietly shine from the page.25). Next he will show that he is from a wealthy family. as the apostle says: There is neither male nor female (Gal 3. he will perfect the power of the spirit in the weakness of the body.1. through the renewal of his mind (Eph 4. which only they achieve who are sons of the light (1 Thess 5. 247–343.12) and called well-born from the risings of the sun (Is 41. but because of the abundance of its heavenly treasures. .53
Meanwhile.5) and children of God (cf. Gregory was still detained in the engagements of his life as a rhetorician. . the natural setting of the letter is this period when he was still a secular professional man. through their illuminated deeds. ﬁrst show himself young and without any sign of age. slightly adapted. Once the reader is alerted to the possibility. cleaving to its incorruptible Bridegroom. and the soul. but quite the opposite. The work is a reprise of the spiritual transformations of the family household at Annisa under his sister’s guidance. Such a person will not pride himself on having a family that is looked up to because of the good fortune which comes willy-nilly to many. It is clear that the eagerness for this kind of marriage is common to men and women alike. Jn 1. has a love of true wisdom which is God. taking his brother’s presence and profession as an opportunity.
.22–23). In the following passage Gregory rereads the spiritual history of his own family and reeducates himself about the whole meaning of family as he does so.

Secondly. He does not seem to have maintained any grudge against the constraint that had been put upon him. For the history of the localisation of Nyssa. Basil attempted to maintain the area of his own metropolitan sway. Hild and M.
55
54
. that Gregory
Cf. Maraval. 371–378 At last Basil won his brother for the episcopate. ‘Nysse en Cappadoce’. Gregory Nazianzen Oration 43. The occasion was the emperor Valens’ partition of Cappadocia into two provinces in the year 371. Basil’s letters 74–76. namely that Gregory was very highly practised in discourse and argument. Tabula Imperii Byzantini Band II Kappadokien. as was the case with Gregory Nazianzen. regarding it as material to the orthodox cause. possibly at the annual synod of Caesarea in September. 246–248.6. Restle. after he had been ordained at Basil’s hands.55 Gregory accepted his ordination and appointment to Nyssa in great reluctance and self-doubt— ‘under every necessity’ as Basil says in letter 225. Yet once he accepted it. his deeply imbibed Hellenic culture prepared him to operate with authority in those echelons of secular society which prized such attainments. The site of Nyssa today is about 1 km north of the town of Harmandali. The ﬁrst beneﬁt is obvious. some three days journey from Caesarea on the way to Ancyra. see P. and very importantly.58–59. Gregory’s skills were well honed for his future emergence both as a demonstrative and a speculative theologian.54 Bishop Anthimus of Tyana unilaterally arrogated metropolitan status over the churches of Cappadocia Secunda. he did so conscientiously. 30 km NNW of Ortaköy through Agaçoren. his life of teaching necessarily kept him conversant with the Greek philosophical writers. Gregory’s ordination as bishop took place in late 371. in western Cappadocia. It was precisely at this period. See F. Revue d’Histoire et de Philosophie Religeuses 55 (1975). One of these towns was Nyssa. He appointed new bishops to strategic towns along the border of the new division. 237–242. The positive contributions of a profession in rhetoric towards Gregory’s spiritual vocation and his work for the Church should be owned and applauded.biography
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appeal on behalf of the citizens the city in the aftermath of a disastrous ﬂood of the river Halys. which is some 28 km SSW of Kirsehir. Thirdly. c. Early years as bishop. 97–98.

See the conclusions below in ‘A problem of dating’. 402–403. a virgin of the community at Annisa. one might suggest. and who on her own account might be expected to strengthen the right ideals of monastic life at Nyssa.60 Gregory evidently
VSM 17.10. That would explain both his and her absence from Emmelia’s death-bed. 107–109.386–387. In the VSM Gregory reckons up his previous visit to his sister as ‘a little short of eight years’. that Macrina thought of a spiritual vademecum for her brother in his new situation: to send south with him their younger sister Theosebia.58 This was also the occasion. The ﬁrst note of him as bishop may be in the list of subscribers to Basil’s letter 92 to the bishops of the West.1. see G. GNO 8. who convenes synods regarding Ancyra and leaves nothing undone to plot against us.
57
56
. May. 58 VSM 31.57 backdating brings us to late 371/early 372. Basil’s misgivings about his brother’s political savvy were to be conﬁrmed.1. a spiritual ‘yolk-fellow’ in his household or at least in close association with him.2 (GNO 8. That he must have presented himself as a newly minted priest and bishop to his sister on this second-last visit is suggested in the VSM where Lampadion mentions ‘your priesthood which she always honoured’.56 If we accept the date of Macrina’s death as July 19. Jahrbuch der Österreichischen Byzantinischen Gesellschaft 15 (1966). even before his episcopate.’ The ecclesiastical problem seems to concern not Arians but the Old Nicenes who had gravitated around Marcellus of Ancyra. 379.30
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visited his sister Macrina for the second-last time. In his letter 100 we learn of ‘the actions meditated against us by Gregory of Nyssa in his simplicity.59 Certainly. 59 On the house of virgins at Nyssa see letter 6. She may well have founded or reformed the house of virgins there. whose presence would help reassure him as he matured into his new vocation. He was not to see her again until her death-bed nearly eight years later. according to Nazianzen’s letter 197 she exercised a leading role among the women of Gregory’s church.6. 60 That the issue was with Marcellians rather than Arians. ‘Gregor von Nyssa in der Kirchenpolitik seiner Zeit’. Alternatively one might wonder if Theosebia had been sent to Gregory’s side at an earlier stage. Maraval 190–192). Maraval 238. The documentation for the early phase of Gregory’s episcopacy is very sketchy. She would be his syzygos.

i. Some discussion has been mooted as to whether Gregory really was at some fault. Adding to the confusion of the moment. a kind of deputy emperor over a bloc of provinces which included Bithynia. Such was his personal moral force that the Arian emperor did not visit him with any of the penalties of exile. Demosthenes’ actions were abetted by Eustathius of Sebasteia.393. Suﬃce it to say that several meetings had taken place between the emperor Valens or his highranking deputies with Basil. GNO 8. not by targeting Basil but his brother instead. 232. Cappadocia and Armenia. Hence when Demosthenes became the vicar of the ‘Pontic’ diocese. he set about harassing the Neo-nicenes. Gregory and Basil were sure that Valens’ religious policy was the driving force behind Demosthenes’ activities. imprisonment or work in the mines which he readily employed against other Neo-nicene bishops and leaders. if the widespread and enthusiastic welcome reported in letter 6 is anything to go by. 239 and notes.61 it is clear that whatever the pretexts. Galatia.1.e. In letter 215. On the other hand. but in such a way that Basil considered that his own name was compromised. 231. but decides the better of it. Basil entertains for a moment the prospect of sending Gregory with Dorotheus as an envoy to Pope Damasus on behalf of the eastern Neo-nicenes.
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initiated some dialogue with them. That the latter could lend himself to such vicious politicking despite his ancient friendship with Gregory’s family: this. but all their attempts to intimidate the prelate of Caesarea had failed signally. Compare his care over the costing of the building of the martyrion in letter 20. Paphlagonia. and his leadership of those called Pneumatomachoi—neo-homoiousians who refused all deﬁnitions of the
61
VSM 23. The major event of this period for Gregory was his exile from Nyssa in the winter of 375/376. as already mentioned. 237.1. From Gregory’s statement in the VSM: ‘the Emperor Valens drove me out on account of the faith’. he seems to have been a pastoral success with the ordinary people. There is no need here to discuss in detail what happened—that can be followed in Basil’s letters 225. On the basis of a single informant Gregory was summoned to answer a charge of ﬁnancial mismanagement. Maraval 208. though Gregory did not show promise as a church politician. Pontus. but it is doubtful.

If this means outside Demosthenes’ jurisdiction.
. but out of the Pontic civil diocese altogether. 56–57. ‘beyond the border’. Basil’s death and of the council of Antioch nine months later. ‘Die Chronologie’. Another major controversy aﬀecting Gregory’s chronology began in the late 1980s and only now seems to be reaching some kind of settlement. and on the sixth psalm. It concerns the dating of the return of the exiled Neo-nicene bishops. A problem of dating The notes prefacing Gregory’s letter 1 tell of a controversy among scholars concerning the authorship of that letter that ﬂuctuated from one side to the other for some decades and was ﬁnally resolved in the early 1980s. then Gregory had passed not merely beyond the province of Cappadocia. was surely a providential preparation for the years of Gregory’s strenuous activity to come. He had the opportunity to steep himself more deeply in the Scriptures and in prayer and it is worth noting Daniélou’s suggestion62 that his commentary on the inscriptions of the psalms. and perhaps on Ecclesiastes where he mentions that the Arian faithlessness that presently prevails. is clear.32
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divine nature of the Holy Spirit—gave Gregory both personal and doctrinal reasons to subsequently exclude Eustathius from all accounts of his family’s past. That he went south at any rate. whither Gregory Nazianzen had withdrawn at the same period. Basil remarks in letter 231 that Gregory was now ÍperÒriÒw. which explains why he was never anywhere near the north to visit Annisa at this period.
62 63
‘Chronologie’. and Basil was able to maintain ready contact with him. as seems likely in the context. This period of enforced seclusion.e. One can only conjecture where he might have gone. i. 162.63 might be dated to this period. The documentation is too scanty for us to be sure except for two things: Gregory was in some way kept out of general view and political reach. St Thecla’s monastery in Seleucia of Isauria is a possibility. See May. of lying low. One might also wonder about Sannabodae—see Gregory Nazianzen letter 238.

1994). 395–456. I
Alan Booth.67 Other consequences follow for Basil’s and Gregory’s chronology. presumably early in 380. Maraval considers.1. Not as yet informed of the subsequent debate.
64
.64 Pierre Maraval argued a case65 for redating these events. 28–31. The date is conﬁrmed.68 He concluded ‘Obscurities and suppositions abound. Revue des Études Augustiniennes 34 (1988). as in Diekamp’s reckoning.biography
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Building on the work of recent scholars. The consternation and doubt can be seen in the appendix on the topic in Rousseau’s 1994 book Basil of Caesarea. recalling the exiles before he did so. who argued that Valens left Antioch in Autumn of 377. Gregory returned to Nyssa at the end of 377. This hypothesis from such a specialist in the ﬁeld caused some ripples among scholars. 25–38. and one has to retain the feeling that an earlier date for Basil’s death is by no means ﬁnally established’. which is of course incompatible with a date in December. 19. Gregory returned to Nyssa in August 378 and spent more than a year in Nyssa dealing with the incursions of the heretics before the summons to Ibora. Phoenix 35 (1981). probably in May. the council of Antioch took place after Easter 378. ‘The Chronology of Jerome’s early years’. Valens repealed the sentences of exile in September–October 377. 360–363. 1. Dating for the events in Sebasteia is not very forthcoming. The great famine was backdated likewise to 368. Macrina’s death took place on 19 July66 378. Greek Roman and Byzantine Studies 26 (1986). 237–239). 67 On these latter events see Lettres. 66 This is Macrina’s feast-day in all the menologies and synaxaries. after reassessment of the evidences that Valens himself recalled the exiles. by the fact that in VSM 21 (GNO 8. The new chronology proposed was as follows: Basil died in August 377. He recapitulated his arguments in the Lettres. ‘Appendix III The Date of Basil’s Death and of the Hexaemeron’. Basil’s election would have to be backdated to 369. Maraval 202) Gregory rests in the shade of the trailing vines. On the datum of eight full years for Basil’s episcopate. I found myself unable to concur with such an early re-dating. Gregory left Antioch to return to Cappadocia in June 378 and reached Pontus in July. and Emmelia’s death likewise. Basil of Caesarea (Berkeley: California University Press. he then departed Antioch (autumn 377). with most of the bibliography on p. Jerome’s credentials as a contemporary historian in the area being very considerable. Rochelle Snee. 391. 65 ‘La date de la mort de Basile de Césarée’. 68 Phillip Rousseau. n. 237–259. 18–23. who redated Basil’s death to 14 June 377 (pp. ‘Valen’s Recall of the Nicene Exiles and Anti-Arian Propaganda’.

5–6. showed that it was by no means unambiguous. in keeping with his recording the entry after Adar 689.1 (Leipzig. Hallier. bishop of Edessa. i. then the date is 27 December 378.24. but if the Chronicler in fact means the Roman year. Hailler argued71 that ‘of the same year’ was interpolated and that the orthodox bishops returned after Gratian’s edict in the late summer of 378. inspection of the text in the Chronicle of Edessa. the qualifying addition would seem superﬂuous. ed. La date.69 Since he is consistent in recording the emperors of either the western or eastern Roman empire for each entry according to whether the person died in the western or eastern empire. . 1892). And on the twenty-seventh day in the month Kanun Qdim [= 27 December] of the same year. It uses the Seleucid era. . in which case 312 is subtracted. Mar Barses. this detail means only one thing: Basil died in the interval when Gratian was sole ruler of the empire. in the month Adar [= March 378]. reckoned from October 1. p. In the year 689. written shortly after 540. not one but two pieces of evidence concerning Eulogius. Further doubts arise from the rather strained eﬀorts necessary to explain away a wide range of data supporting a later chronology. If it means the same Seleucid year. Untersuchungen über die Edessenische Chronik. 102. And in those days Mar Eulogius became bishop in the year that Theodosius the Great became king . 71 L. Moreover. For example. 379. backtrack to December 377 for the return of the exiles.70 A translation of the relevant entries is as follows: ‘32. n.e.’.34
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gave and give full weight to his unique testimony for Basil that he died imperante Gratiano. Thus the phrase ‘of the same year’ after Kanun Qdim is anomalous. 312 BC. See Maraval. Texte und Untersuchungen 9. which was the cornerstone for an early dating of the return of the exiles. departed from the world. 1903) pp. Chronicon Edessenum CSCO 1. 34. 33. Guidi (Louvain. i.e. The Chronicle of Edessa is a late document. The Christian era is derived by subtracting 311 from a Seleucid year except for the months October–December. between the death of Valens on 9 August 378 and the appointment of Theodosius as Augustus of the East on January 19. As a sample of chronology it is odd that the chronicler would report Barses’ death in March 378. An early scholar. the orthodox came in and recovered the church of Edessa.
De Viris Illustribus 116. 29. I. and then leap forward to 379 after Theodosius became Emperor.
70
69
. in the reign of Gratian.

5–33. 14 many authors of the last three centuries who noted the synchronicity of Basil’s and Demophilus’ elections. and argued in detail that his letter 48 to Eusebius of Samosata contains enough data of itself to establish that Basil was elected bishop of Caesarea in September 370. such as ‘or a little more’. ‘La date de l’election épisopale de saint Basile et celle de sa mort’. He notes on p. He cites Tillemont to say: Tillemont: ‘We do not see any other means of understanding letter 254 (i. 48 Benedictine) of Saint Basil .1. See Maraval.72 In an admirable exercise of scholarly collaboration.1. Pouchet agrees with Maraval that Gregory’s Encomium76 is concerned with the establishment of Basil’s memorial day on 1 January
72 Fragments of the letter from Damasus of Rome. 16. Pouchet does not engage with the issue of the early recall of the exiles. Revue d’histoire ecclésiastique 87 (1992). . Illud sane. VSM 16.1.. 38 n. and second that he was a participant in the council of Neo-nicene bishops at Antioch. it means the ninth year has advanced but little. without placing his election in 370.
. an expert in Basil’s letters. and Gregory of Nyssa. Pelagius of Laodicaea. Ea. at about the same time as Demophilus was elected the (Homoian) bishop of Constantinople. La date.74 Eight full years of episcopacy and no more75 lead thence to a date in late September 378 for Basil’s death. 109–34. Zenon of Tyre. 385. as the Chronicle of Edessa quoted above states. Eusebius of Samosata. . In 1992 Pouchet published a major essay73 in which he re-examined the internal evidence of Basil’s letters. Since this latter phrase lacks a qualifying phrase typically used elsewhere by Gregory. but emphasises the reasons for delay between the occasion of Valens’ recall of the exiles. GNO 10.’ 75 The evidence for this is Gregory Nazianzen’s Epigram 10b. He dates Basil’s letter 268 to Eusebius of Samosata in Thrace. an unusual conﬁdence in Eusebius’ liberation and return. where Gregory says ‘Eight years having passed after this [his election]. Non nobis. to late April or the beginning of May 378. Bematius of Malle. one can perceive clearly. Most of these had been Basil’s correspondents. J. Eulogius of Edessa. 88). to look into the question. In Basilium Fratrem (Eulogy for his brother Basil). 74 In this Pouchet was not advancing something new. He speaks in terms of ﬁrst an ‘amnesty’ by Valens and then the ‘eﬀective recall’ by Gratian. and their eﬀective return to their intruded sees. Maraval invited Pouchet. Maraval’ edition. preserve the names of seven participants: Meletius of Antioch. in the ﬁrst half of the letter. gratia. at the ninth year’ [t“ §nãtƒ §niaut“] he died. 73 Pouchet.2 (GNO 8.-R.e. Diodorus of Tarsus. noting that though Basil does not mention explicitly the recall of the exiles.biography
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bishop of Edessa must be reinterpreted: ﬁrst that he did not become bishop till the reign of Theodosius. 76 GNO 10.

..........1......... and Gregory’s description in the VSM77 of his sitting outside in the shade of the trellis vines on the eve of her death. would not have wished to fuse the popular feast of a local martyr and the synod of the church at Caesarea with the commemoration of his predecessor in a period already overcharged for himself and his clergy...........20 September Beginning of the council of Antioch ....... a reason already proposed. Again with Maraval............2........ He proposes two reasons for the time-lag: Basil died not long after the local celebration of the martyr Eupsychius (5/7 September) and the autumn synod at Caesarea that followed..... Maraval........... along with the preceding feasts of Christmas.. 386.................. 389...
. Gregory’s statement78 that the bishops broke up their meeting before the year had passed by must refer not to the Roman year but the local Seleucid year of Antioch which began on October 1.. and Basil did not die a martyr...... would help to displace the licentiousness of pagan celebrations of the kalends of January. surely a prime consideration if such were the case......21 May End of the council . the establishment of a feast day on January 1. Pouchet takes into full account the liturgical evidence for Macrina’s death on 19 July.... 200......... Indeed he must have been one of the ﬁrst non-martyrs to receive a canonical feast-day.. which renders a date in November or December quite impossible...... Basil’s successor. Among all the reasons Gregory gives for holding this celebration on this day.....mid September Basil’s death ........ he does not mention that it was the anniversary of Basil’s death... Pouchet’s proposed chronology is as follows: Basil’s election as bishop ... Maraval... VSM 17..... 190...... Secondly.. He conjectures that Helladius.......... specially for the novel situation of a non-martyr saint..... Better to reserve it for a holiday period not far oﬀ.... Apostles and Martyrs..... But why a delay of more than three months between the death of Basil and his liturgical commemoration? Pouchet answers this by rehearsing the fact that there was as yet no inviolable norm with regard to choosing this day or that...1... Martyrs were commemorated on the day of their confession.... GNO 8......36
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and that it does not necessarily imply that it was the actual day of his death.. GNO 8.1..21 June 370 378 379 379
77 78
VSM 21..........

The detailed narrative of Ammianus Marcellinus’ Res Gestae 31 makes it clear that Valens spent the winter of 377/8 in Antioch... Eusebius’ Werke siebenter band..... Studia Patristica 29 (1997).. quae ecclesiis inferebat............ Chronicle A. (Berlin: Akademie Verlag. and this must prevail against Snee’s attempt to date it to Autumn 377.... and in a late repentance [same phrase as in Jerome] ordered the bishops and priests to be set free from exile and the monks released from the mines’). Hieronymi chronicon.. Barnes....... For example............. hrsg von Rudolf Helm..... Mommsen (Vienna: Akademie Verlag..... Eusebius Werke 2....D..... 1019–1020..... 81 Church History 11... 247–259.82 But any fresh argument supporting this traditional date is unfortunately lacking..... 3–16.......... The other sources....................79 A useful contribution to the debate was his reconsideration of the date of Valens’ departure from Antioch.. See my ‘Edessa to Casino: the passage of Basil’s Asketikon to the West’..... so the ‘late repentance’ more naturally precedes that event than a supposed departure from Antioch almost a year earlier...... Vigiliae Christianae 56 (2002). show that he must have departed Antioch in the Spring of 378...... 1908). seraque paenitentia episcopos et presbyteros relaxari exiliis ac de metallis resolvi monachos iubet (‘But then Valens began to direct his warfare away from the Churches to the enemy.. It is perhaps not generally realized that Ruﬁnus had his own credentials as a contemporary historian. ‘The Collapse of the Homoeans in the East’.. 378...13: Tum vero Valentis bella...... Schwartz & Th. primarily Jerome.. Barnes thinks this was through Caesarea itself. 249.19 July
37 379 379 379 379 379
In 1997....18 July Macrina’s death .......................... in which he also reassessed the date of the return of the exiles and of Basil’s death.... D. Ruﬁnus immediately goes on to describe Valens’ being besieged in the hut on the battleﬁeld... He was very likely present in Antioch and Edessa in the year 378. 82 Prudent Maran assembled all of Tillemont’s reasons for a date of 1 Jan 379 in chapter 13 of his Vita Basilii PG 29 lvii–lix.. Barnes maintains the long received dating of Basil’s death: 1 January 379..
.... Barnes published a talk given in Oxford in 1995... Basil’s letter 268 to Eusebius of Samosata was written after this departure..... in Die Griechischen Christichen Shriftsteller der Ersten Jahrhunderte....... Die Kirchengeschichte......... Valens went ‘with haste’ to Constantinople... he does not
79 T..22 June Gregory arrives in Cappadocia .8 July He arrives in Annisa ... in hostem coepta converti.7 July Gregory leaves for Annisa in Pontus. Die Chronik des Hieronymus........ 80 Jerome... He fails to respond to Pouchet’s and Maraval’s arguments in signiﬁcant ways..80 with Ruﬁnus81 and Socrates dependent on him.....2.e... T......... ed.biography Gregory leaves Antioch for Cappadocia ....... D. E. i.. Basil remarks that he hears that Valens and his court is passing by.... 1984)... late in April or in May 378...

If Basil was alive in the summer of 378.... More than that.... it must be conceded that Pouchet’s chronology most satisfactorily and comprehensively answers all the major issues concerning the date of Basil’s election as bishop........ If we do accept Pouchet’s arguments for re-dating Basil’s death..... given that it was in haste. putting on record his essential agreement with Pouchet’s argumentation.84 He had long retracted his earlier position..... One might only amend it by gratefully accepting Barnes’ restatement of the case for dating Valens’ departure from Antioch to Spring 378....September 379 Journey to Annisa and Macrina’s death ........ Gregory of Nyssa’s journeys and the date of Macrina’s death..... and did so again here.38
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engage with Pouchet’s study of letter 48... and enters into no discussion of Gregory’s Encomium as evidence for the date of Basil’s death and not just his memorial day..........83 The issues concerning Gregory of Nyssa’s journeys and Macrina’s death are ignored. op........ That is the extent of the response.1 Jan 379 Council of Antioch... The main points of Barnes’ chronology are as follows: Basil’s death ....)................ He asks whether it was necessarily through Caesarea. but rather to the south-west through Sasima..... most of the pieces falling into place naturally and without strain.....
. that Basil died on 1 January 379’ (Barnes..... while the liturgical and hagiographical evidence points to 1 January as the day of his death............ his ﬁnal correspondence.... 84 ‘Retour sur quelques dates concernant Basile de Césarée et Grégoire de Nysse’.. 153–157... with all the best will possible in that direction... we can at least be thankful that it is far less drastic than Maraval’s
83 Barnes remarks on Maraval’s argument that Gregory’s homily was the source of the subsequent tradition: ‘That could be theoretically correct... p. It would have been good to ﬁnd cogent fresh argument supporting the long received dating of Basil’s death.......... it is elegant.. Pouchet’s solution of the evidence is soundly and untendentiously argued... Nazianzus and Coloneia. but it sounds suspiciously like special pleading. but.......November 379 Maraval himself published a summary article in 2004 reviewing the whole question. 12. cit............. He gives a more realistic interpretation of the ‘passing by’ of Valens and his army or court in Basil’s letter 268........ viz. the Neo-nicene council of Antioch.... Revue d‘histoire ecclésiastique 99 (2004).... then the obvious inference is the traditional one.

2. One of his ﬁrst acts in that capacity was to formally revoke Valens’ penalties against the Nicene leaders.85 For a few months. Maran.biography
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proposal in 1988. Both Tillemont and Maran take account of Jerome’s and Ruﬁnus’ testimonies and are aware of an early return of the Edessan exiles.2. 5. and that Macrina died on 19 July 379. Socrates HE 5. as even Tillemont and Maran recognized. Gregory’s return from exile and rise in Church affairs. the western emperor. NPNF ser. Basilii PG 29 lviiA. Theodoret HE 5.
85 86
‘
W. Moore. that Basil died in late September. 6. became sole emperor of west and east. though it could well mark his return in 380 from his captivity in Sebasteia. letter 6 does seem to mark a very special welcome home. Codex Theod. Vita S. It would seem to ﬁt this occasion particularly well. that the re-grouping of the Neo-nicene bishops in Antioch took place in May–June 379. we will accept that Valens changed his attitude to the Neo-nicene exiles at about the time he left Antioch in the Spring of 378. that Gregory returned to Nyssa sometime during the summer—certainly by the end of it.5. Gratian. and to proclaim toleration for all except for a few extremist minorities. 88 Memoires 9. Most importantly.87 Tillemont thought Valens might have changed his mind on the matter of the exiles as early as May 378. it has been said. Sozomen HE 7. 378–381 Arianism vanished in the crash of Hadrianople’. only to wait on his brother’s dying weeks and days. 16. For the purposes of this chronology then.555. Though he was often absent from Nyssa over the years.88 So. that the return of the exiles was happening in a piecemeal fashion until given impetus by Gratian’s edict in August.
.1. It is brought forward little more than three months from the traditional dating. cf. 2 vol. on which more below. friend and disciple of Ambrose of Milan and a staunch Nicene.86 This was a conﬁrmation of some kind of concession granted by Valens some months before his death. a date of late September 378 remains within the narrow window of Gratian’s reign as sole ruler of the empire both west and east. sometime in the summer or early autumn of 378 Gregory was free at last to return to Nyssa. 87 Cf.5.

From the fact that On the Making of Man was sent (as an Easter gift) to Peter.89 Devotion to these saints was a spiritual palladium of the entire family. and Gregory took up the charge conscientiously. At Easter 379 he delivered at Nyssa his ﬁrst sermon On the Pasch and the Resurrection. This was a new mantle of responsibility. speaking and travelling until his trip to Antioch. Gregory’s Second Homily on the Forty [Martyrs]. the monks and virgins (see letter 3. May90 insightfully notes the intense spiritual exchange between the two brothers that appears from this time on.26). not yet bishop in Sebasteia. and the treatises On the Making of Man. followed soon after by Apologetic Defence on the Hexaemeron. This stance as Basil’s heir in doctrinal exposition is expressed so promptly. the homily Against Usurers.4) and not to forget his special care. p. consciously and with unaﬀected authority that is fair to assume that on his death-bed Basil himself had charged his brother. which chronologically was his ﬁrst on these martyrs. and he himself would have been aware if there were any serious concerns for her health. So in late 378 and early 379 Gregory was busy writing.40
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Nazianzen’s letter 76 indicates that Gregory was in Caesarea for his brother’s death and funeral. it is clear that there was ongoing correspondence with Annisa.
. though nothing has survived to conﬁrm that now. his Second homily On the Forty Martyrs. In these works Gregory presents himself as the continuer of Basil’s work and explains his purpose in taking up and completing themes initiated by Basil. to continue his defence and promotion of sound faith (see letter 29. It was surely a two
89 90
See Daniélou. and soon after Apologetic Defence on the Hexaemeron was also dedicated to him. Three works belong to the early months of 379. He preached it on 9 March 379 in the same martyrion in Caesarea in which Basil had also once delivered his homily on the Forty Martyrs. Besides. there may have been direct correspondence between Gregory and Macrina. 347. Thus through Peter at least Macrina was apprised of her brother Gregory’s activities since his return from exile. From then on Gregory’s own writings enter prominently—indeed one say erupt—into the historical record. ‘Die Chronologie’. just as Elijah towards Elisha. 57. conferred in solemn circumstances. ‘Chronologie’. shows him publicly assuming this role as his brother’s successor. whom he himself had ordained bishop.

He would scarcely have returned to Nyssa ‘before the middle of 380’.
. Gregory his inheritor as a theologian: ‘Basil had two brothers.1. He travelled to Ibora in about March 380. He was then called to Sebasteia only in April 379.26. where he stayed about a month. ‘The death of Macrina therefore took place in December 379 or January 380. But Pouchet’s re-dating of events allows us to reconﬁgure the chronology without too much diﬃculty. 1898.91 For both Gregory and Peter. 12.93 in May–June 379. Basil is never portrayed in relation to Macrina as father—and indeed at one critical juncture. Peter to Gregory was Macrina’s most faithful disciple from infancy. Halle. Maraval. one who had become in his own right a generous and wise father of monks and virgins. became spiritual mother and father to all their younger siblings.E. 386.biography
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way aﬀair.6) and ‘teacher’ (throughout On the Soul and Resurrection). 190. 4. Macrina for her part was ‘mother in place of our mother’ (letter 19.’ Some days later Gregory reached Nyssa again where he took ‘some weeks’ to re-establish order after the depradations of the ‘Galatians’.1. Peter and Gregory. while the latter emulated his eloquence in teaching’. their precise timing is not always so. Some eight months and more after Basil’s death. the former of whom adopted his monastic way of life. 392–394) may be summarized as follows: Gregory was absent from Nyssa from August 379. where he spent ‘at least two or three months’ in Sebasteia. 440. 8]. with a footnote to Loofs [Eustathius von Sebaste und die Chronologie der Basilius-briefe. H. that the beginning of the year in the provincial Cappadocian reckoning was 12 December. writing in c. The Synod of bishops in Antioch began in September or October and took about three months. While the general sequence of events is clear. whereupon he took a ten days journey to reach his sister in Pontus where she led a monastic community. And now we come to the tumultuous events of mid 379–mid 380. 92 Diekamp’s chronology (‘Die Wahl’. Gregory only left Antioch in December. Basil was ‘our common father and teacher’ (On the Making of Man. he is clearly portrayed as her spiritual son. Peter was Basil’s inheritor as a monk.92 who of course was dependent on the dating of Basil’s death established by Tillemont. a pure man wholly consecrated to God who had never compromised himself. n. Gregory repeatedly refers to him in the VSM as ‘the great Peter’. Gregory did not go to Nyssa but was in Cappadocia when he received the disturbing news about his sister. introduction). 93 VSM 17. GNO 8. Gregory took part in a conference at Antioch of the Neo-nicene
91 It is intriguing that to Socrates. Letter 19 and the VSM are our chief documents of this history. The pioneer interpreter of these events was Diekamp. While Gregory for his part became his little brother’s preceptor in forensic theological discourse. Ultimately Macrina the ﬁrst-born. Diekamp mentions. and Basil the ﬁrst-born son. p.

a role much more formally sanctioned and extended two years later in Constantinople. in On the Soul he visited her to seek consolation over Basil’s death. According to the VSM he had already been intending to visit her because it had been so long since they had last met. During this time in Antioch Gregory made the personal acquaintance of the famous pagan rhetorician. That it took ten days from Caesarea to Annisa ‘with haste’ is doubtful. led her funeral procession to the martyrion outside the village. Libanius. when he was suddenly spurred to visit his sister Macrina as soon as he could. He did not turn aside to Nyssa. He almost certainly made directly for Nyssa in western Cappadocia.42
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bishops formerly exiled under Valens. Allowing a month or so for the council in Antioch from late May.
. but did not ﬁnd him. of which letters 13 and 14 are testimony. and buried her there in their parents’ grave by the relics of the Forty Martyrs. She died in the evening of the next day. then part of that ten days was spent reaching Caesarea and continuing his journey on from there. the local bishop. He says he travelled as quickly as possible. Thus by a strange reversal the loyal Peter was absent from his sister’s death and funeral while the so long absent Gregory was present. Their concern was to rally their cause and discuss the re-establishment of sound faith in the civil dioceses of Pontus and the Orient. perhaps even at Tyana.94 but immediately continued on up to Pontus. Gregory left Antioch late in June and reached Cappadocia no later than 8 July. in letter 19 he was galvanized by receiving disturbing news of her condition. Gregory’s own accounts report the decision in diﬀerent ways. But if Gregory was further south when he received the news. Indeed they seem to have mandated him to reconcile certain Marcellians (letter 5.
94 Four days before Gregory’s arrival Peter had left Annisa looking for his brother. Gregory appears to have been conﬁrmed or encouraged as his brother’s heir in the defence of doctrine.2). Welcomed by Basil’s circle of episcopal colleagues. after the council of 381. together with Araxius. His oﬃcial mission to the churches of Arabia and Jerusalem came two years later. reaching Annisa on 18 July 378. and may have been designated a special referee for church order. Two days after his arrival Gregory. On the return journey from Antioch he had halted in ‘Cappadocia’. probably through Amasea. To his measureless sorrow he found his sister Macrina on her death-bed. taking ten days journey to cover the distance.

55. Eustathius. melts down in lamentation and becomes scanty on information. a town in Pontus a half-day’s journey from Annisa.
96
95
. 410. P. Uproar followed. which had long enjoyed links with Gregory’s family. Letters 22 and 23 are piteous appeals for deliverance from the predicament in which he now found himself. 256. It is clear at any rate that Gregory was taken into some kind of custody. where he secured the election of a devoted Neo-nicene. Maraval. who is not named. Maraval. This mission was barely accomplished when in late February 380 an embassy from Sebasteia arrived in Ibora seeking the same oﬃces from him for their own city. 27. had died. our sole source of information on this episode. p.97 as the new bishop of Ibora. it is not quite clear when. depending how long he may have stopped over in Caesarea. ‘Die Chronologie’. Eulalius and Eustathius had not been Nicenes. GNO 8. Pansophius.96 Gregory had barely ﬁnished stabilizing his church when he was approached by an embassy to come to Ibora. and its two previous long-lived bishops.1. Maraval. were far higher than in Ibora. and he had to go to some trouble to repair the harm. since Sebasteia was a metropolis. The profession of faith in letter 5 may also be explained by this tense situation. So sometime perhaps in mid to late January Gregory made his way to Pontus again.biography
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Immediately he took the road south again. whether coercive or protective is uncertain.2. 24–26. Their bishop had lately died. however. Gregory was acting as a scrutineer at the election when he was startled to ﬁnd himself the one elected. and the Neo-nicenes of the town felt that Gregory’s presence would secure the election of an orthodox bishop. It would be an attractive thought that Gregory solved the
VSM 39. Alas. Letters 10 and 17 also seem to ﬁnd their proper setting in this sorry episode. ‘Lettres’. See May. Taking a route through Sebastopolis95 he arrived back in Nyssa early in August. Vigiliae Christianae 42 (1988). the ‘Galatians’ had sown trouble in his church from the time of his departure in late April. 97 See P. ‘Un correspondent de Grégoire de Nazianze identiﬁé: Pansophios d’Ibora’. possibly hoping to meet Peter along the way. Then letter 19. This time the problem seems not to have been Marcellians but Arianizers who had once had a ﬁeld-day at Nyssa in Valens’ time and who now exploited Gregory’s long absence to undermine the Nio-nicene ascendency. The stakes in this episcopal election.

Gregory spent a period of intense literary activity lasting until the Spring of 381. Gregory at any rate. If the mission to Ibora took place in the winter of 379/380. Thus from the time he set out for Antioch in April 379 until his ﬁnal restoration to Nyssa in mid 380. but it is doubtful that such a dating is appropriate. rejoices at the signs of early spring. which was exactly the period of the feast-day of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia (March 9) and a likely occasion for the electoral synod. tr. Most of his theological writings of this time are concerned with promoting an orthodox doctrine of the Trinity.5b conﬁrms that a very few years later Gregory did indeed celebrate the Feast of the Forty Martyrs in Sebasteia at that frigid time of year. one overtaking the other.
. written some weeks later. though when he had reached Cappadocia lower in the Halys valley he seems to have encountered warmer weather. in his letter 29 to Peter—who at that stage was probably still the monastic superior at Annisa— writes that on his return from Armenia he wrote the ﬁrst two books
98 GNO 1. and letter 10. the episode in Sebasteia ﬁts the late winter/early spring of 380. 2 vol. Gregory was now fully exercising the role of apologist for Neo-nicene orthodoxy. Gregory. The ‘two books’ shortly mentioned refer to two sections of what we now know as CE I. During this time.98 This was an answer to the ﬁrst book of Eunomius’ Apologia pro Apologia. yet of the letters written at that period letter 18. It seems to have been another case of Gregory’s failure in church politics. not to CE 1 and 2. was restored to Nyssa by about mid 380. During this time he completed his very lengthy Contra Eunomium I.9 testiﬁes to the ‘numbing cold’. NPNF ser. After his release from captivity in Sebasteia. Gregory experienced a relentless succession of events. Letter 1. and he bent all his energies to serve the great cause. Maraval suggests very plausibly that a Pneumatomachian may have been put in place until the triumph of orthodoxy in 381. One might wonder about so much travelling and activity in regions of severe winters. since no further information is forthcoming.44
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dilemma by proposing his own brother Peter as bishop for Sebasteia at that stage. That is exactly the impression that letter 19 gives: an unremitting onslaught of emergencies. in which the Anomoian theologian had ﬁnally answered Basil’s Contra Eunomium after 14 years. 5. in unrecorded circumstances. the Neo-nicenes were consolidating their position. 35–100.22–225.

Mitchell. in ‘Das Bekenntnis des Gregor Thaumaturgus bei Gregor von Nyssa und das Problem seiner Echtheit’. 145–166. It is possible that Gregory travelled up to Neocaesarea to deliver a panegyric to Gregory Thaumaturgus on his feast-day. however. 380. Basil. in On the Holy Spirit.99 It now appears that the Trinitarian creed attributed to Thaumaturgus is really the work of Gregory of Nyssa himself. It was also about this time that he also travelled up to Euchaita. But what of Gregory’s report that he stopped at Sebastopolis on his return journey after Macrina’s death? 100 Luise Abramowski. shows no awareness of this creed which would have been such a help to his cause. based on Diekamp ‘Die Wahl’ above. provides strong arguments that the creed could not have derived from Gregory Thaumaturgus. when defending himself against the concerns of the Neocesareans. This particular paragraph may have been some kind of a gloss. when he was attending to the aﬀairs of the church ‘in Pontus’. and preached at the martyrion of St Theodore
99 It is tempting to ﬁt the delivery of this panegyric during Gregory’s visit to nearby Ibora in 379. In Oration 28.8 (380) Gregory Nazianzen quotes from a paragraph ostensibly concluding the creed and attributes it to an unnamed theologian who had written it ‘a short time before’. ‘On the Life and Lives’. giving his brother the go-ahead in no uncertain terms. On 1 January 381. but his scenario. 128 dates it to 17 November 379. which means he must have been grudgingly lent Eunomius’ Apologia while in Sebasteia. and of Bishop Artarbius in particular. Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 87 (1976). has Gregory journeying to Neocaesarea after Macrina’s death to carry out a mandate of church reform.
. Peter wrote back letter 30 in reply. Gregory felt the need of Peter’s approval and encouragement before venturing to publish it. 112–5. Basil’s memorial day.biography
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of his Contra Eunomium. Gregory says he received a letter from the rhetorician Libanius on the 1st of January. ‘in the metropolis of Cappadocia’.100 There is one date at this period on which Gregory can be located precisely from two sources. just west of Amaseia. because he had resorted to a lot of heated ad hominem argument in response to Eunomius’ attempted character assassination of Basil. and in Letters 204 and 210. In letter 14 to Libanius. since it is not supported by all manuscripts. He gives the impression that he had already been making notes for his reply while in Armenia. for example. he preached his Funeral Oration on Basil in Caesarea. which was later edited and expanded as the Life. November 17. So on the very day he delivered his Funeral Oration on Basil he received the letter from the famous rhetorician. Its setting is the Neonicene agenda of the time and the attempt to heal the doctrinal rift that had grown up through the 370s between Artarbius bishop of Neocaesarea and Basil of Caesarea. that there he somehow deals with the problems of the ‘Galatians’ and the embassy from Sebasteia reaches him.

Cod.101 To this period also can be assigned the small treatise–letters on the Trinity. Socrates H.2.6. and To Ablabius that there are not three gods. 16. 8. Orosius. To the Greeks on common notions. leader of the Neo-nicene faithful. Very shortly he was accompanying St Gregory Nazianzen. ‘de Fide Catholica’. 7.1. La prédication des Pères Cappadociens (Paris: 1968). Theod.103 Theodosius paid immediate attention to the ecclesiastical situation. Gratian and Theodosius published the epochmaking edict that all their Christian subjects were to profess the faith of the Bishops of Rome and Alexandria. 303. PG 92.4. Hist. The council convened
101 102 103
J. But unexpectedly Theodosius revived. Pasch. 381–386 In February 380.34.102 During that year they secured a tactical peace with the Goths. The zenith of Gregory’s public career. The truncated letter 24 to Heracleianus on Trinitarian doctrine is surely a specimen of many other such doctrinal letters from this period or a little later that have not survived. CSEL. into the cathedral of Hagia Sophia and witnessing.46
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there. 5. that of Bernardi: February 381. Bernardi. Sozomen H. at least his installation as administrator of the church in Constantinople.E. Thus it was as a baptized Christian. if not his enthronement. But before Theodosius could make his way to the eastern capital. that Theodosius entered Constantinople for the ﬁrst time on 24 November 380 as the Roman emperor of the east. letter 35 To Peter his brother on the divine ousia and hypostasis. he fell gravely ill at Thessalonika and asked Baptism from its bishop. can be discerned.
. In these letter-treatises. Chron.E. 762. 381. Theodosius ordered a council to settle the aﬀairs of the churches in the eastern empire in favour of the Nicene faith and to formalize Gregory Nazianzen’s election as bishop. unusual for men of aﬀairs in the secular world then. Gregory’s ongoing controversy with the Pneumatomachians who accused him of advocating three gods and the Eunomians who accused him of being a Sabellian. Ascholius—once he had assured himself of the bishop’s Nicene faith. Of the various dates proposed for Gregory’s homily on Theodore. letter 33 to Eustathius the physician on the Holy Trinity. best ﬁts the chronology presented here.

Jerome preserves an interesting sidelight on Gregory’s activities at the council. The list was ratiﬁed by an edict of Theodosius on 30 July.3. written to the presbyters of Nicomedia probably in the late 380s/390.1. ‘Die Asketen aus Mesopotamien in der Rede des Gregor von Nyssa In Suam Ordinationem’.713. perhaps bore the seeds of future trouble between the two men. ‘Die Chronologie’ p. 1961/1995 repr.6. 107 Cod. From Glory to Glory. Vigiliae Christianae 21 (1967). ‘This is a decisive proof of its date’. wonderful Letter 1 is eloquent testimony to the mounting disaster of their relationship. died suddenly towards the end of May. 16. 7. and together with Gregory Nazianzen listened to Gregory reading from his Contra Eunomium I. passionately exhorts them on the qualities to be looked for in choosing a bishop. Letter 17.105 Amid the many tumults of that council—so well rehearsed by Gregory Nazianzen—the venerable Meletius of Antioch. 29.E. He is followed by R. 59. p. According to Theodoret. Theod. Daniélou104 argues that Gregory preached the opening address. ﬁrst president of the council. Tillemont had assigned the homily to Gregory’s last appearance in Constantinople in 394. the references to discussions on the Holy Spirit.biography
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in May 381.9.106 The council fathers drew up a list of bishops whom they proposed as standard-bearers of Neo-nicene orthodoxy. The fact that Helladius. Awareness of Helladius’ simony. Bishop of Antioch. and many other sad experiences of fractious church aﬀairs. and preached his Funeral Oration on Meletius.8. n. May concurs with this dating. 357. a metropolitan. One can well imagine a congenial scene: Gregory travels up to Annisa. 106 de Viris Illustribus 128. Gregory’s brother Peter was also at the council of Constantinople. HE 5. The three chosen for the civil diocese of Pontica were Helladius of Cæsarea. PL 23. 165–179. the mention of the expected arrival of delegates from Egypt’. And in the funeral oration for Meletius Gregory ‘clearly refers to his discourse on his Ordination. Sozomen H. There are ‘for example. where he collects Peter
‘Chronologie’.
105
104
. Gregory of Nyssa was chosen as the eulogist. and one of his bishops were together appointed to the same ecclesiastical pre-eminence. 72. for he too was present at the council. Gregory of Nyssa and Otreius of Melitene. p. 381. Gregory’s brilliant. and it survives in the work misleadingly called On his own ordination. had stirred Gregory to a deep religious passion for the remedying of the churches. Staats.107 according to which certain bishops were nominated for various regions.4. communion with whom would be reckoned as proof of orthodoxy.

which takes up again the subject matter of his Against Apollinaris and letter 3. 110 From Glory to Glory. 288 n. Gregory’s special mission to visit the churches in Arabia and Jerusalem. the aftermath of this council seems the most suitable moment to date Peter’s election as bishop of Sebasteia. just as Basil and himself had once travelled the same route in Eustathius’ entourage to the council of 360. Since Neo-nicene orthodoxy was now to be established throughout the churches of the eastern empire with imperial backing. in which he mentions his recent long journey.109 It appears that the mission to Arabia concerned strife over the see of Bozra. says Daniélou. argues at length for this later dating. with his Word/Flesh Christology was among these objectors. who at the very least was not one of Gregory’s defenders.48
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and travels with him along the Via Pontica to the capital. is far better dated after this council of 381 than after the council of Antioch in 379. replacing a heterodox successor to Gregory himself. See letter 3. since it seemed to imperil the immutability of the divine Word and to involve the divine nature in change. Through the winter of 381/382 he completed his Against Apollinaris. Maraval suggests that Gregory’s Word/Man Christology did not commend itself to certain partisans of Nicaea.108 The council ended in July 381. Thus Gregory’s theological preoccupations in 382 turned increasingly to Christology. 7. p. This sermon.111 also shows his shift to Scripture which characterizes his evolution at this period. It was not impossible that Cyril. Gregory’s interest in the ﬁgure of Mary is discernible in the letter 3 written soon after his return home. Maraval. reported in letters 2 and 3.110 The scarifying experiences in Jerusalem that Gregory reports in that letter brought home to him how necessary it was to give further attention to Christological issues. which denied Mary’s perpetual virginity.
On this dating of Peter’s succession to Sebasteia see Maraval. as Tillemont and many following him had proposed. 1961/1995 repr. evidently the mission to Arabia. Daniélou mentions also that the ‘antidicomarianite’ heresy. Lettres. Lettres 35–38. as in the previous year they had been with the Trinity and with the Holy Spirit.
109
108
. 111 Chronologie 361. 1. At Easter 382 he preached his 2nd sermon on the Pasch or the Resurrection in Nyssa. He notes especially the ﬁgure of Cyril of Jerusalem. There was simply no time for such a lengthy mission further south in that hurried year of 379. was at its height.12–13 and note.

291 line 28. I consider it a fearful thing not to take part in the agonia of Christians. Appearing as C. the Church.114 There is a passage in the introduction to this work in which Gregory represents his own motivation in working so hard to combat heterodox theologians. it would be far from my inclination to willingly disturb my tranquillity and by oﬀering provocation of my own accord to stir up a war against myself. and the work evinces key words on the Holy Spirit added to the Nicene creed by the council.’ p. 2 vol. II. But now that the City of God. It is also an excellent example of the perfect marriage in Gregory of rhetorical art and transparent personal sincerity:
Let no one think that it is through love of honour or desire of human glory that I go down eagerly to grapple with the foe in this truceless and implacable war.E. and in it he alludes to his own Hexaemeron. XIIB or XIII in PG 45.228 lines 7–21. it deals with quite speciﬁc comments of the Pneumatomachians that seem to have arisen in oral controversy. Hence I have not turned aside to tranquillity. For if it were possible for me to lead a peaceful life not meddling with anyone. and there is no small danger that the word of the Lord may be swept into captivity by the onslaught of demons. The VSM is a much more considered reﬂection on the events surrounding his sister’s death that he had reported brieﬂy in letter 19 shortly after the event.E.250–314.909–1121. 59.
113
112
. and the great wall of the faith is battered by the encircling engines of heresy. 115 C. 114 GNO 1. NPNF ser. which has led some to propose that his trip to Arabia may be dated to this year rather than the
‘Die Chronologie. against the Macedonians was another follow-up of the 381 council. since in discussing the worship of the Holy Spirit.E.226–409. since the introductory letter mentions his recent trip south from Antioch. was the VSM.115
There is no particular evidence that Gregory attended the followup synod in Constantinople in 382. now restored by Jaeger as C. GNO 1. 5. tr. May112 considers that the On the Holy Spirit. is besieged.biography
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Another work completed soon after his great journey south. II. probably through the winter of 381/382. but regard the sweat of these toils as preferable to the tranquillity of repose. During 382 Gregory completed the second book of his Contra Eunomium113 a reply to the second book of Eunomius’ Apologia pro Apologia. GNO 1.

whose cult Peter I himself had once established. 118 Chronologie 362. divided into two parts.572–908.116 In that year (383) Peter was in his early days as bishop of Sebasteia. NPNF ser.119 This accords well with the date of the martyrs’ feast day: 9 March. But it seems probable that he used the time to labour on his dense theological writing.E. Daniélou argues. Symbolically the whole exercise was to represent a return to the unity of the faith of ‘the olden times’. 5. at which he required representatives of the Eunomians and the Pneumatomachians to submit professions of their faith. There occurred to him an excellent way of consolidating his own position and conﬁrming his church in sound faith.50
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previous year. Gregory ﬁnally ﬁnished the third book of his Contra Eunomium. letter 19. after the long hiatus of the ﬁrst Peter’s successors.E. 2 vol. at Sebasteia—not. While staying in Sebasteia Gregory no doubt took counsel with his brother Peter over his current literary task.1–311.118 during his sojourn there in 380. Eulalius (probably Eustathius’ father) had been on Arius’s side at the council of Nicaea. the themes of which accorded precisely with the object of the council. 119 Daniélou thinks that letter 1 is to be dated later in the 380s. 135–229. the Contra Eunomium III. It was then that Gregory delivered his First homily on the Forty Martyrs. In speak-
116 It appears as C. but during Lent 383. when he espoused a Pneumatomachian position and courted Valens’ favour. 117 ‘of olden times’. Eustathius. 1a and 1b. Eulalius and Eustathius. and so Gregory came to Sebasteia in far happier circumstances that his visit in 380 (Letter 1. Book III-XII in PG 45.5b). and indeed of any of his works. tr. a huge tome.7. by far the longest of controversial writings against Eunomius.117 Peter II invited his famous brother Gregory to attend the festivities and to preach. turned against Basil in the 370s. III in GNO 2. The emperor Theodosius convened another council at Constantinople in May 383. 10 March 383. now restored by Jaeger as C. The second part would then have been delivered on the following day. He had the relics of his predecessor Bishop Peter I of Sebasteia brought back to the metropolis and decided to establish the cult of his predecessor on the great dies memorabilis of the city: the Feast of the Forty Martyrs. a Homoiousian in league with Basil in the 360s against Eunomius. from Gregory’s comments on the disunity in the faith at Sebasteia.
. Through another productive winter and into 383. It was on this occasion that Gregory preached his dogmatic homily On the divinity of the Son and of the Holy Spirit.

you will receive the answer ‘The Father is greater. 5. This in a way constitutes a ‘fourth’ treatise against Eunomius. constantly deepening meditation on the events of her life.E. NPNF ser. Gregory subsequently wrote a detailed critique of it for the Emperor. Thus three documents concerning Macrina emanate one from the other in an unfolding. anthropology (what man was created to be and how this original constitution is aﬀected by the Fall) and eschatology (concerning his ultimate destiny).121 Gregory very possibly wrote his On the Soul and the Resurrection in the following winter of 383/384. He certainly wrote it after the VSM. Gregory was referring obliquely to Arcadius. In the confusing rearrangements of Gregory’s C.biography
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ing of ‘the four royal luminaries’. VSM 17–18 in turn is greatly expanded in the form of On the Soul and the Resurrection. whom his father had appointed Augustus on January 16 that year.312–410. If you ask whether the bath is prepared. since the previous winter had been fully occupied with the Contra Eunomium III. 101–134.464–572.E. he will debate with you whether the Son is begotten or unbegotten.’120
During this council Eunomius presented his Profession of Faith. it might be noted. at the cross-roads. the idea of a ﬁnal restoration of all things in God and the cessation of evil and Hell—a position. It is in this homily that we ﬁnd his famous characterization of the overheated theological atmosphere in the eastern capital:
It is a city full of earnest theological disputes. the Son is less’. though it is not really part of the ordered sequence of Gregory’s own books.6–10 is expanded in the form of the VSM. This latter is in the form of a philosophical dialogue. Macrina ﬁgures as the ‘teacher’ who ﬁelds the objections raised by Gregory concerning life after death. PG 46. her doctrine and her death: letter 19. where he had expressed his desire to revisit his conversation with his sister at greater length.E. now restored by Jaeger as A Refutation of Eunomius’ Profession. everyone talking and declaiming in the squares. tr.553–576 at 557–558. II in PG 45. in the market places. It shows both a willingness to depart from certain positions taken by Origen and yet maintains Origen’s line on apocatastasis. vigorously repudiated by Basil in his Shorter Responses 267. II. 2 vol.
121 120
.
Oratio de deitate Filii et Sancti Spiritus 4. because it very considerably expands an episode described in VSM 17–18. If you ask for the price of a loaf. of a later era. you will be solemnly told that ‘There was nothing before the Son was created’. It appears as C. GNO 2. If you ask anyone for change of silver. it was used to replace the original C. in the alley ways.

the last of his great dogmatic treatises. the saintly Empress also died. It was to her that he later dedicated his homilies On the Song of Songs.52
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The winter of 384/385 is one of those for which we are least informed about Gregory’s activities. He seeks to establish the whole complex of Christian doctrines on a foundation of metaphysics rather than on the authority of scripture alone. Scarcely a few weeks had passed when Pulcheria’s mother. the Catechetical discourse. p. Daniélou. perhaps 14 September. It must also have about this time that he renewed and deepened his acquaintance with that great and holy lady of Constantinople. Quasten says of it: ‘It represents the ﬁrst attempt after Origen’s de Principiis to create a systematic theology.123 The matter of the pagan intellectuals stayed on Gregory’s mind after he returned home. So Daniélou122 is glad to be able to situate here Gregory’s Against the Pneumatomachoi. Gregory’s spent quite some time at Constantinople in 385. Chronologie. Marking the zenith of the honour he was accorded in Theodosius’ court. and the second for his wife. 365. 364.
. 262. Baptism receives much attention. Texas: Christian Classis. Allusion to the earthquake in Nicomedia on 24 August 358 helps ﬁx the date of Funeral discourse on Pulcheria. 3 (Allen. Olympias. His Funeral Oration on the Empress Flacilla attests the empress’s unease and perhaps his own. as he intimates in the treatise Against Fate written at the beginning of 386. to 24 August 385. whom he had probably met for the ﬁrst time in 381. at the degree to which Arians and pagans continued to ﬂourish in the capital. He is the ﬁrst Church writer to attempt to account
122 123 124
Daniélou. In the winter of 386/387 he completed a comprehensive exposition of the Catholic faith for their use. and staying until well into the autumn. he preached two funeral orations.’124 His full treatment of the sacraments is noteworthy. also known as the Great Catechesis. since the doctrine of the Trinity on which Gregory had laboured so long is so intimately bound up with it. 2000). p. Jews and heretics. Johannes Quasten Patrology vol. the ﬁrst for the emperor’s daughter. arriving in May for the council that year. During this long visit he had many contacts with the intellectual elites and the pagan philosophers of the capital. Gregory gives a remarkable presentation of the principal dogmas and defends them against pagans. Chronologie.

relying on Lietzmann and Mühlenberg. which is our earliest evidence for a distinct feast of the Ascension. according to Daniélou. 383. Daniélou. to about 387. To Simplicius. 361. It is noticeable that his theological writings become increasingly engaged in Christological issues. May. G. On May 18. metastoixei≈siw. 37). A series of homilies in the Christmas season of 386 attest the sequence of saints’ feast-days as celebrated at that time.biography
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metaphysically for what becomes of the bread and wine in the Divine Liturgy. the (Antirrhetic) against Apollinaris. 388 he preached another sermon also important for the history of the liturgy. written in c. Throughout the early and mid 380s Gregory played a prominent role as a consultant theologian in the Church of the Eastern empire. Despite its doctrine of apocatastasis or universal restoration. of which one is certainly the Contra Eunomium in which he dealt with doctrinal issues polemically. p. Sunday 27 December 386. It is in the context of these contacts with cultivated pagans and Gregory’s growing interest in liturgical commentary that we might date letter 4. ﬁrst martyr. and give us one of the last glimpses of Gregory as theological polemicist. 61. the Catechetical discourse was a great success and found wide circulation. ‘Chronologie’. James and John celebrated on that day. ‘Die Chronologie’. to Eusebius. It can be dated somewhat by the fact that in Chapter 38 he refers to two earlier works. for which he uses the verbal form of a Stoic term. dated by Daniélou to 25 December 386 is one of the earliest testimonies to the celebration of a feast of the Nativity distinct from Epiphany in the Christian east. which was eventually ruled inadmissible by the Church. specially in the capital and in the churches of eastern Anatolia and upper Syria. On the Ascension of Christ. and the other one of a group of small non-polemical treatises To Ablabius. that Gregory Nazianzen did not learn of Apollinaris’ Proof of the Divine Incarnation.126 and the To Theophilus bishop of Alexandria written
125 126
J.125 in 387 according to May. he preached his Second discourse on St Stephen which was dedicated for the most part to the Apostles Peter. stimulated by the growing success of Apollinarism. trans-elementation or transformation (ch. in which Gregory attacks the Pneumatomachoi and the Christomachoi (Eunomians). The next day. This was immediately followed by the Discourse on Saint Stephen. lit. He wrote two works. On the nativity of Christ. who argues. or On Common Notions.
. till 387.

and lays great stress on the assumption of all that is human in the conception in the womb of Mary. 156–169 at 159. ‘Gratian and Theodosius I’. These vital concerns of his theological ministry inform his letter 32. Gregory refutes the Apollinarian notions that the body of Christ somehow descended from heaven or that the Divine Word took the place of Christ’s rational soul. which bridges the themes of Theology and Christology. but deﬁnitely whole God and whole man. He employs the ancient Alexandrine epithet of Mary as the Theotokos. the ‘God-bearer’ (letter 3. of Arianism and Apollinarism. His interest in Mary was prompted by several concerns: his esteem for dedicated virginity as the loftiest form of spiritual endeavour. however precisely his unity be accounted for. 387–394 While Theodosius remained in Constantinople. In 387 Emperor Valentinian II of the west ﬂed to the protection of Theodosius. M. we are not sure. 1964). It has perhaps not yet attained to personal devotion. The final years: Gregory as mystical theologian. In these treatises/letters.
. Gregory’s interest in the ﬁgure of Mary should also be noted. he acted on important occasions as the oﬃcial orator of the imperial court. the extraordinary concomitants of her virginity in particular and by the necessity of giving as accurate an account as possible for the conception of Christ in her womb.127
127 See A. the year Theophilus became bishop of Alexandria. Jones. But the winter of 387/388 marked a watershed for both men. and Gregory makes an earnest attempt to do so. but it is certain that a latent Mariology is emerging. Gregory reveals a Christology of the Antiochene Word/Man type. Gregory acquits himself of statements that Cyrillians of the following century would be very pleased to hear.54
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in 385 at the earliest. She appears surprisingly often in his writing. As we have seen. to the monk Philip.24). Christ is not whole God and a ‘half man’. The following year the Eastern emperor departed for Italy to deal with the usurper Maximus who had broken his oaths. 1 (Oxford: Blackwell. Gregory of Nyssa had high standing among the bishops of the Eastern empire. The Later Roman Empire 284–602 vol. H. in which he strongly defending the integrity in Christ of both the divine and human natures. Lest Gregory’s Antiochene type of Christology mislead us into thinking him some kind of pre-Nestorian.

and the many deaths of family. He was henceforth to dedicate his life to strengthening the spiritual and doctrinal bases of Basil’s monastic work. The two are connected for he needed to ensure a scriptural foundation for his mystical theology. 46. 385–394 Gregory’s writings focussed increasingly on the nature of progress in the spiritual life. but the letter is intended expressly as the preface to his exegetic homilies on the Song. so that he came to spend most of his time in Italy and Thrace. thanks not the least to Gregory’s labours through the early–mid 380s. Theodosius was the last sole Roman emperor of both Eastern and Western empires. ‘Chronologie’. perhaps written in c. one after another. He retired from the milieu of Constantinople. completed with a dedicatory letter to St Olympias of Constantinople. 368. From this moment he began to write his mystical commentaries on the Old Testament and develop his own spiritual doctrine of epectasis. the estrangement from Helladius of Caesarea which never found a cure.’128 Thus in the last ten years of his life. his Homilies on the Song of Songs. 130 ‘Une Lettre Spirituelle de Gregoire de Nysse identiﬁee’. Gregory was now freer to give himself to a task which had always been his concern: the encouragement of the monastic communities which had been fostered by St Basil. Yet in continuing Basil’s role of spiritual fatherhood Gregory did not concern himself with the
A translation of Daniélou. I was tempted to include the prefatory letter in the supplementary collection as an example of a letter to an educated woman of high spiritual purpose. He ceased to be occupied with theological controversy.129 It is in this last phase of Gregory’s life that Pouchet130 would situate the intriguing letter to Theodore which is included in this collection as letter 36. such as his age. To this period belong the Life of Moses. all contributed to a gradual change in the tenor of Gregory‘s life. These and other circumstances. 391–392. which he expounded chieﬂy by means of the spiritual interpretation of Scripture. For a few months before he died at Milan on 17 January 395. and his ﬁnal testament as it were. ‘The end of the year 387 seems to mark the beginning of a new period in Gregory’s life.
129
128
. Meanwhile church aﬀairs in the Eastern empire had somewhat settled down. c.biography
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The turbulent political aﬀairs of the west preoccupied Theodosius for the remainder of his life. Ambrose of Milan was the church leader of major importance in this phase of his life. friends and associates.

1). . humble obedience to the commandments and life in the Church attain their end in an unswerving desire for the supremely and inﬁnitely beautiful that is God alone. Whether his earlier speculative writings are adequately characterized as ‘religious philosophy’ or not. the ﬁgure of every soul that truly seeks God:
The soul. now that she thinks that her yearning for the Other cannot be fulﬁlled or satisﬁed. That had been largely taken care of by the long years of Basil’s catecheses which had been collected and edited in the Great Asketikon. personally engaged in the ultimate truths and beauties of which he speaks so eloquently. which was essentially the same thing as a concern with the ultimate goal of the life in Christ of all Christians. into a brilliant and inspiring spiritual synthesis. As he focussed his thinking in this direction he gathered together the spiritual strands of his own life. His words are lit up from within by a profound spiritual élan. He is deeply. the labours of rational thought and argument and pastoral generosity to which he had given himself. and by other competent superiors in Basil’s mould. He speaks of the Bride of the Song of Songs. But the veil of her grief is removed when she learns that the true satisfaction of her desire consists in continuing to go on with her quest and never ceasing in her ascent. The reform of the Christian ascetic life spearheaded by Basil in eastern Anatolia was fairly established. . adversities and struggles through which he had passed. and the maturation that had been wrought in him over the years. one cannot avoid the impression that in these latter writings Gregory himself has moved to another spiritual echelon. seeing that every fulﬁlment of her desire continually generates a further desire for the Transcendent. Just one passage from these later writings might be called upon here as a last signature in these pages of his mature mind and heart. Thus the veil of her despair is torn away and the bride realizes that she will always discover more and more of the incomprehensible and
. and no doubt by Peter’s continuing role as a monastic leader in Basil’s lineage. imagination. forensic reason. wounded and beaten because of the frustration of what she had been longing for. In this way. based intimately on both faith and dogma— on ‘true theology’ (letter 34. the slow stages of mistakes. In his doctrine of the spiritual life. she is in a sense.56
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practical arrangements of the communities. Gregory addressed himself instead to the inner quality of the spiritual life of the monks and virgins who lived in those monasteries. looks for Him but does not ﬁnd Him . We ﬁnd him now in complete command of a substantive mystical theology. having gone out at the word of her Beloved.

For she has received within her God’s special dart. 2. selected and introduced by J. .: St Vladimir’s Press. And God is love. where his name appears on a list of participants. pp. .131
The last record of Gregory alive is his presence in a synod at Constantinople in 394. 5.8. translated and edited H. ‘The prophecy of Basil had come true.
. texts from Gregory of Nyssa’s mystical writings. 132 NPNF. communicates to her Beloved the aﬀections of her heart. Thereupon she is torn by an even more urgent longing. Even in outward rank he is equal to the highest.’132 After that he fades from the historical record. 1995). she has been mortally wounded by the arrow of love. Musurillo (Crestwood N. Daniélou. 270–271.biography
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unhoped for beauty of her Spouse throughout all eternity. Gregory therefore seems to have died forever to this world late in 394 or in 395. Nyssa was ennobled by the name of its bishop which appeared on the roll of this Synod between those of the metropolitans of Caesarea and Iconium. she has been wounded to the heart by the barb of faith. and she . ser.
131 From Glory to Glory.Y.

.

specially if Gregory had any inﬂuence with Theodosius’ court in the 380s. mentions that his brother has written to him expressing his desire to meet with him. In letter 74. tr. 1.4). which is a somewhat embarrassing monument to their brotherly relations.1. Yet. Letter 19 was written in reply to a letter of enquiry during a critical episode of his life (see 19. The letters of Gregory Nazianzen to the younger Gregory were clearly written in the context of years of correspondence between the two men. 1997). in letter 14. Hints that he was in fact a frequent letter writer occur throughout the letters of all three Cappadocians. only one survives. not one has survived from Gregory to his brother.). Basil. Gregory Nazianzen urges him to write and to keep him abreast of his aﬀairs. Of letters of intercession to civil authorities on behalf of the disadvantaged. A great deal then has been lost. Gregor von Nyssa: Briefe (Stuttgart: Anton Hierseman. as Teske points out. which were more often than not requests for help in doctrinal and theological matters. though there must have been many other letters between the two brothers over the years. letter 7. Would that we had just one of Gregory’s news-bulletins to such a conﬁdant as Gregory Nazianzen! Other letters and treatises show that Gregory often wrote in response to speciﬁc enquiries. But there must have been many other such letters. letter 58. so prominent a function of bishops in late antiquity. & annot. In fact Gregory was so much of a letter writer that the epistolary style tended to inform much of his writing that might be classed
1 Dörte Teske (intro. only one from Basil to his brother. In the very earliest record of his existence. And yet again.THE LETTERS: A GENERAL INTRODUCTION Gregory as a writer of letters How few of Gregory’s letters have survived when compared with the many letters of Basil and of Gregory Nazianzen! Yet.1 one cannot deduce from this fact that Gregory was somehow much more reticent about writing letters than he was about writing his many other works. not one letter of the younger Gregory to the elder has survived. and alas.
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which have come down in separate manuscript traditions.2 The relevant letters are 5. letter 3. e. letter 5.
. but agrees that the whole period for dating Gregory’s extant letters is relatively short. on the holy Faith on the one hand. Early sub-collections of letters If so much of Gregory’s correspondence has been lost. or letter 32. that there are not three gods. Increasingly scholars have come to situate several letters in the speciﬁc circumstances of Gregory’s election as metropolitan of Sebasteia and its aftermath.60
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otherwise. Maraval. Indeed. To Ablabius. which fully inhabit both genres. but unmistakably letters too. 19. Lettres. e.g. to those who discredit his orthodoxy. Within this slender collection it is possible to discern two sub-collections. and since they were published for so long among St Basil’s letters. 10. It seems reasonable to suppose that letters 4–30 more or less represent an early compilation of letters. to Eustathia and Ambrosia. and letters written on doctrinal topics on the other hand. Stephen Mitchell even suggested to me that I include the VSM itself in this collection. n. an idea that has much to recommend it. n. They are certainly small dogmatic treatises. it was also used as a circular letter and sent out to a range of correspondents. perhaps a dozen years or so.1. or To Simplicius. To the monk Philip? Two letters at any rate are included here. it may be observed that the manuscripts fall into two broad groups. considers that too narrow a period. for though it is indeed a life of his sister. 12. as is proved by the variety of addressees in the inscriptions. It seems that there was a copy-
2 In Müller’s opinion (‘Der Zwanzigste Brief ’. 83. we will include them in that genre now under their rightful author’s name. One is a small bundle of letters emanating from the crisis at Sebasteia in early-mid 380. 33 and 35. 18. what distinct borderline is there between some of the smaller dogmatic treatises written as letters to named persons.g. 22. 18. He notes the possible confusion of genres himself in the opening sentence of the VSM.1) no letters survived before 380 or after 381. one may wonder how any of Gregory’s letters come to survive at all? In the Pasquali collection. letters 1–3. and letters 4–30 which have come down for the most part in three manuscripts with a common source. letter 24 To Heracleianus.

or for some other forum of student interest. no doubt all he or she could ﬁnd to hand. 13. 23. 26.
3 Pasquali’s suggestion. in which scriptural citations were less pertinent. 27. 16.3 Since Gregory was in such a politically delicate situation where any word or utterance of his was liable to scrutiny. It seems that the compiler of the early collection of Gregory’s letters had simply to combine these two prior sub-collections. Since this was a formal and ecclesiastical letter. 14. suggests that a disproportionate number of the letters that have survived was selected on a criterion of secular ‘literary’ qualities. where the primitive collection may have been compiled. 21. a copy was possibly kept in Nyssa.1 refers to his ‘custom’ of beginning letters with a text or passage from Scriptures. supported also by Müller in the note above.5 perhaps for the beneﬁt of his son Cynegius. Secondly. and add but very few others. 11.
. among these new letters was the fervently religious and hortatory letter 17.the letters: a general introduction
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book of letters from this disturbing episode in Gregory’s life. The fact that within the 4–30 collection only letters 7 and 17 bear this out. ‘Le lettere’. and the theological and other letters recovered by scholars from false attributions or from obscure trails of manuscripts and oﬀered in the Supplement of this volume redress a potential imbalance of subject matter and enable us to gain a rounder view of Gregory’s interests as a letter writer. coming from very late in Gregory’s life. 93. Gregory Nazianzen himself made a primitive collection of his own letters made as specimens of epistolary style for his grand-nephew Nicobolus. together with the ﬁrst three letters incorporated into his edition by Pasquali. and one might even say secular tone. he very possibly kept a copy-book himself. 4 See Gregory Nazianzen Letters 51–55.4 Similarly Gregory of Nyssa may also have made a copybook of letters to illustrate the epistolary style. if any. The disproportionate representation of this type of letter due to unknown circumstances of choice may convey a somewhat skewed impression of Gregory’s character. 28. These additional letters. The Hellenist manner and only the merest hint of Christian themes. are characteristic of these letters: letters 8. 5 See also Maraval. Signiﬁcantly. 20. Gregory in letter 11. 9. Lettres 43. one notices the number of letters which have a very literary.

pre-eminently philosophy. not to mention at times obscure.14).4. Méridier. sunepespãsato (25.e.e. kayuperke¤mena (25. ‘St Gregory of Nysa: Grammar.1). when we say ‘rhetoric’.7d.5h). and rhetoric marks his style in every way. dense and supple. Of course. but also the sciences of the day.18. 1987). 64–71. At its best it enables the practitioner to express the sincerest and most transparent sentiments in an eloquent and persuasive manner. words with double and occasionally even triple qualifying preﬁxes. •jelãfrunaw (20. (35. §panaklÆteon 4. énep¤mikton (15. i. It means a highly trained ability to express oneself skilfully in words by one whose mind is well stocked not only with elegant examples of word-play but also with the highest representatives of Hellenic culture. nuance and texture. The intention here is to give the reader in English a suﬃcient overview of Gregory’s style to enhance the appreciation of his letters. Ein beitrag zum Rhetorikverständnis der griechischen Väter (Frankfurt-am-Main. enquiring and impassioned Christian faith cohabited in Gregory to a remarkable degree. parempt≈wevw. we must eschew any hint of a pejorative sense as in ‘mere rhetoric’. sunupolambãnein 33.g. Klock. Examples of some of his most characteristic features are as follows:
• The use of ‘compound-compound’ words. not found in lexicon). Journal of Theological Studies 26 (1925). Gregory constantly sought out variety. 1906).13).5c). ÍperanabebhkÒtvn (35. L’inﬂuence de la seconde sophistique sur l’oeuvre de Grégoire de Nysse (Rennes. E. Untersuchungen zu Stil and Rhythmus bei Gregor von Nyssa. The relative restraint in its use that was characteristic of Basil was not true of Gregory. see now the magisterial C. E. C. Owen. Lettres. Vocabulary and Style’. The art of rhetoric became second nature to Gregory and is always in evidence in his writing.4c) prokataugasy°nta.6 We begin our survey by noting aspects of his vocabulary. (35. dealing with the Contra Eunomium. even in such impromptu cries of the heart as letter 22.62
the letters: a general introduction Rhetoric and style in Gregory’s letters
Gregory was a professional rhetorician for eight years. sunepinoe›tai (35. diejagÒmenon (35.. see especially Maraval. and hence the vocabulary of his letters. and then a few of his most characteristic rhetorical ﬁgures.
. 43–50.6). §panaklçsyai (35.4i).4c). For a more extended treatment of style in the letters. as in his other works is rich. prosanapaÊousa (2. most frequently with the preﬁx sun.
6 Technical studies of Gregory’s style begin with L. making for his complex and versatile personality.7a). may be usefully consulted. ‘Le lettré’. Traditional Hellenic culture and a thoughtful.

parechesis).2a. . pro#pãrjasa (1.4e. An example is the play on words which ﬁlls the entire brief note which is letter 23: fe¤domai poll«n lÒgvn. as he himself describes if in letters 13 and 15.1.4 expressed somewhat obscurely.1) Dorian dialect. ßjei tª Faid¤mƒ. . . Some other very obvious examples are: khrussom°nhw . toÁw yaumatopoioËntaw (9.1. . ‘things plural and numerically diverse’ 35. §peidØ fe¤domai t«n s«n kamãtvn .9. His written treatises and letters were usually destined not for private sight reading but to be read out loud (declaimed?) and often shared in company. that the illumined life should reach its maximum extent as it grows through increments of the good. The use can actually be very eﬀective in a theological context: mÒnow monogen«w §k toË égennÆtou f≈tow 35. especially sun-. Gregory tends to an elaborate periodic style. . The same idea is repeated in alternative ways not strictly required for the sense.35). dusgr¤piston (26. . for example. Accordingly he made much use of devices of resonance. He is always attuned to the oral quality of his language in what was after all very much an oral culture. To give a few examples: ‘The gifts that nature bestows on the place as it adorns the land with unstudied grace’ 20. éntep›rai (7. There is. 4. or the single sentence of intricate argument in 3. sumpared°jato (33.7.1). . toË prototÊpou kãllouw 18. • He has a fund of rare and poetic words. khrussomenƒ 3.2).4j).1). Examples are summetevropore›n (3. Consider the introduction of letter 18 for example.the letters: a general introduction
63
• nealogism and hapax: Gregory is not only versatile but inventive with words. and the long complicated sentence at 7.).1).1d.1). needless overstatement for the sake of eﬀect.2: ‘let him ask himself why something that neither renders us blessed nor directs us to the Kingdom should be made
. often making them up by means of preﬁxes. khrÊssousi .’ 4.
Of the ﬁgures of rhetoric perhaps the most recognizable in Gregory is redundancy. .5. katakirnçtai (33. ≤mifan«w (12.4 which covers 14 lines in Maraval.5d). or the lengthy rhetorical question of 4. . that is. neoyal∞ (12. Devices of court-room pleading add vividness. ÑVw kalå t«n kal«n . when the night has advanced to its further limit and the nocturnal increase admits no more addition .24 which occupies 18 lines in Maraval. . kataprodidÒnai (33. Lampe’s Patristic Lexicon often cites his works for instances of hapax (attested once). ‘why is it only then. the rhetorical question and prosopopoiia (invoking the person concerned) in 2. He often repeats the same word in diﬀerent forms with slightly altered meanings (paronomasia.

when he speaks of ‘stirring the boldness of youth with the eagerness of old age’. An excellent example of parallelism. for example. as when Gregory tries to express the realization of the Incarnation in 35. In 27. The droll irony of 1. he even parodies the pretensions of rhetoricians. Heb 1. oxymoron. Touches of irony and humour also add a vivid quality.4n as ‘a new and strange kind of conjoined separation and separated conjunction. in 2.9 he observes that his enemies are ‘retentive of what they have learned and inventive of what they have not learned’. but it was a feature especially cultivated in the late 4th century ‘sophistic’. Gregory shared the keenness of contemporary orators for antithesis and parallelism in all their varieties.7: ‘Where the ear is contaminated. Of course. and in letter 2. In 18. e. when he says Scripture teaches us to ‘quit the body to be with the Lord (2 Cor 5. which in its most distilled form. in the following 24. the very nature of classical Greek language seems almost scored for antithesis.16 Mammon is personiﬁed as having a grudge against Gregory for his poverty. and the eye is contaminated. or when in 25.64
the letters: a general introduction
an object of our zeal?’ Compare also the series of forensic questions as in a Stoic diatribe.3.20: with ‘according to the analogy of faith. and in 27. An excellent specimen occurs in letter 20. not according to their absence in Jerusalem’. In using Scriptural texts.23–24. when he jests in reply to Stagirius’s light mockery about the ‘secret sanctuary’ of Plato.4 when he compares the number of rafters to the number of soldiers at Thermopylae.’ the Scriptural text is understood implicitly and its signiﬁcance is conveyed without necessarily using the exact terms. where he grandiloquently extols Vanota as putting into the shade all the descriptions of renowned beauties in classical literature. in 15. More pleasant and more familiar with Gregory is irony used with a gentle humour.g.12 where he speaks of Helladius’ admitting him to the ‘inner shrine’ might even verge on sarcastic. in 3. Excellent examples of antithesis occur in letter 2. Such irony ﬁlls the letter.18.8) rather than quit Cappadocia to be in Palestine’.5: ‘when we learnt of ‘the Son’ we were taught the power shining forth from the ﬁrst cause to uphold all things (cf. including resonant word repetition occurs at 2.3). how is the heart not also contaminated?’ A sharp form of antithesis is paradox.1–2.’ Another very distinctive feature of Gregory’s style is his use of hyperbole or exaggeration. Gregory is more allusive and less given to express citation than is Basil. really came into its own when dealing with aspects of the Christian faith.
.

• 3. • 18. Some of his similes and metaphors are as follows: • 2. and indeed it is one of his great gifts as a theologian to be able to suggest the most abstruse concepts by way of similes and metaphors. • 10. those vivid evocations of scenes from nature and human activity that add such interest and colour to his narrative.7 battleﬁeld manoeuvres = his opponents’ methods. • 12. at other times he could be unrestrained and over elaborate. Some instances are: • 1. • 3.10 thirsty traveller at noon = himself seeking Macrina.3 The congealing of ice in winter = the behaviour of locals in their inventiveness for evil.12.14 simile of the sun’s ray illumining the dark = God’s illuming our darkness with the true light. ships = churches.1 craftsman using a ruler = using the Gospel sayings as a guide of life.4–5 leaks from conduits = secessionists from the church.
. = consolation from a friend amidst aﬄiction. • 3. bishop = administrator of the irrigation canals.1 erotic language in a double transposition: thorns of roses = lover’s jabs = caustic comments from a friend.1 The ﬁrst signs of Spring.8 ﬂare from a great beacon-tower = beauty of a country villa. Gregory’s powers of vivid description are seen most clearly in his use of ecphrasis. the whole letter is a remarkable description of his visit to Helladius in the mountains.the letters: a general introduction
65
Gregory’s skill in imagery is a very important aspect of his style.15 art of medicine = the curative power of divinity in our human nature.1–2 Jonah in the belly of the whale = his detention at Sebasteia. • 22. • 17. • 19. • 17. Under this heading I include generally simile.21 metal-worker = bishop. • 28. • 20. Sometimes he was very apposite. • 17. • 19.1 winter solstice and the ‘turning’ of the light = the increase of the true Light. the ambiguities and emotional tensions of a profoundly uncomfortable human encounter. His whole mind is geared to analogy.1–3 portrait-painting = verbal descriptions of persons.6–7 the variegated scales of the serpent a ﬁgure of the versatility of evil.19–20 ship’s pilot = bishop. • 4. metaphor and ecphrasis or word-pictures.

of great interest to the history of architecture. 16. Gregory does have an alternative way of opening his letters.2 the wonderful picture of threatening rain. 26 (by Gregory’s correspondent). Using the same general template the introductory ecphrasis may be exchanged for a short pithy aphorism. Gregory. • The whole of letter 20 is a sustained ecphrasis of a visit to a country estate. 35 and. 34. in 8. 8. 19.7 Having said that. invaluable for its description of the forecourt to a country villa. usually in the form of a question concerning the meaning of the imagery just evoked. 21. 23. perhaps a scriptural saying or a moral drawn from the case he is about to discuss. 195.3). • 25 is a detailed description of the design of a martyrion. 24. Then a transitional sentence follows. Next follows the ‘explanation’ of the image and its application to his real purpose in writing.
. again the whole letter is a lively description of his return home to Nyssa after a long absence. 28. usually a description of a scene from nature. Nowhere is this done more exquisitely than with the imagery of the dove in letter 21. The personality revealed in the letters The letters of Gregory yield a picture of a many-sided and rich personality. a man of formidable intellectual stature in the
7 I have detected it. 12. Combining both opening ambits. 10. a pithy sententia and a graphic image are letters 1 and 37. It is altogether a special feature of Gregory’s epistolary style. It is meant to be pungent and arresting.3). 9. 11. Ecphrasis often appears as the introductory element of a kind of ‘template’ that Gregory used when writing a letter. 14. 33. • 21. This can be traced in letters 7. 230. though not exclusively his. Accordingly.1 charming description of the taming of a dove in order to catch other doves. The pattern may be traced in letters 1 (see note at 1. 11 (see 11. 32. a letter will open immediately with a vivid ‘word-picture’. far less often of course. in Gregory Nazianzen’s letters 178.66
the letters: a general introduction
• 6. 32. 15. full of classical allusions and topoi. without the transitional sentence couched as question. 4. 20.

19 etc. 19. But he was never one to be disillusioned or bitter or bear a grudge for long.g. fulﬁlling Basil’s reading of his character. As compared with Macrina. yet such a culture co-existed with and was subsumed into the most intense Christian faith and the loftiest possible spiritual focus.25. 19. 17.2–3. slowly and ineluctably to a resplendent intellectual and spiritual maturity.4–10.17–18. We also see his despondency at the experience in letter 3. but so richly symbolic a sensibility that to him the whole world was a tissue of metaphors leading upward to transcendent realities.3. 18. 3. One senses that Gregory. Yet a gentle self-deprecation and realism about himself run through much that he writes. in its speculative and contemplative capacities was more wide ranging. e. he not infrequently fell short in political savvy (a perhaps not unwinning trait). 16. 29. For all of his prominence in the 380s as a consulting theologian for Neo-nicene orthodoxy. Basil and Peter. but grow he did. and was very appreciative of friends as can be seen in his elation at receiving their letters. 33.1.27–35. 5. His Christian humanism was of the most authentic kind since it did not retard but led to mystical transcendence. In other words.3 and in the gentle irony told against himself. A gentle hope and kindliness. He is constantly dismayed and pained at the sheer faithlessness and viciousness of human beings: letters 12.1c. To some extent one might even call him a ‘romantic’. even as his intellect. 3.2–4.25. His capacity for indignation can be seen in letters 1. His heightened sensibility was wonderfully aware of the beauties and the terrors of nature. was also possessed of a sensitive and emotional nature. He was susceptible to dreams full of forewarning signiﬁcance.16. and a most attractive capacity for wonder persist through his letters. Revealing his sense of self-worth are letters 3. we gain the impression that. Letters 8. He was absolutely a man of great culture and erudition and never hid it.4. practical prudence was not his strong suit. was of a less stern temperament—which is not to say weak. He had not only formidable powers of forensic reasoning. 18 and 36 are wonderful testimonies to
. as in 25. We see evidence of the failure of his eﬀorts to put things right in church aﬀairs in letters 1. 10. Gregory was slower to grow in his faith.the letters: a general introduction
67
church of his day and indeed of any age. 10.4. 29. in comparison with his brother Basil. This man of most sophisticated intellect never lost a certain naivety in dealing with human aﬀairs.4–6. He was given at times to tears and despondency.

35. mutilated by the loss of some folios. parchment.. 306–308). 36749. once belonged to Bessarion.. written by a very ﬁne cursive hand. G codex Laurentianus Mediceus plut. Manuscripts used for the Pasquali edition The following are the manuscripts collated by Pasquali: M codex Marcianus Venetus 79 (Pasq. 114–121v) assigned to Gregory Nazianzen. xxxvii). contains 230 Letters of Gregory Nazianzen and several middle Byzantine authors. At the opposite end of urbane Hellenism letter 17 attests in Gregory a fervent pastoral solicitude for the churches wholly in the apostolic manner. 33. contains letters of both Gregory Nazianzen and Basil.. an ex-
. ﬁrst part in parchment. end of 10th cent. 5. 308 Letters of Basil and a few of other authors. not the Theologian’. 24. Letter 27 shows him at playful and witty repartee. A codex Romanus Angelicanus 13. 34. Messina Sicily. 2nd part on paper. B (for Letters 1–2) codex Londinensis Musei Britannici Add. beautifully written with few abbreviations. the most sober and forensic theological mind is revealed in letters 3. parchment. xv–xvi).. xi–xv. Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 1 appears among some mixed Letters in the ﬁnal part of Nazianzen’s collection (f. end of 10th cent. parchment. 85v) with no sign of attribution to Gregory of Nyssa. 73v–77v). an epistolary containing 138 Letters of GNaz. 11th cent. the learned scribe or contemporary reviser has added in the margin ‘This letter is by Gregory of Nyssa. Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 1 appears as the last of the Nazianzen collection (f. letter 6 attests the extraordinary aﬀection he could inspire among the ordinary people as a pastor in his local church. Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 2 is assigned to the right author (f. quite in the manner of Gregory Nazianzen. written in an upright hand using abbreviations at the Greek monastery of Holy Saviour. Gregory’s character was nothing if not rich and versatile. On the other hand. 12th cent. Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 1 appears at the end of the Nazianzen collection (f. Letters 12 and 21 are expressions of the most exquisite charm and courtesy. 32. IV 14 (Pasq. initially copied without attribution to an author.68
the letters: a general introduction
his deeply aﬀectionate nature and his capacity for friendship and gratitude.

codex Vaticanus graecus 1455. Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 1 appears on f. parchment. a mini-library of Byzantine religious and literary writings (including some Maximus the Confessor). 13th cent. common exemplar of f and b. contains many Letters of Basil and Gregory Nazianzen and selections from Photios’ Questions and Answers intermingled... written in a very small. consistent hand with few abbreviations. codex Parisiensis graecus 1268. some quite rare.. 14th cent. written meticulously by one hand. 138). p preserves genuine readings in at least two places. codex Vindobonensis theologicus graecus 173 Nesse. 627. paper. 1615 by Morell. 16. parchment. codex Taurinensis bibliothecae nat. 160 as if by Nazianzen. ﬁlled with various Byzantina. the Eroticos. Jaeger’s siglum is Q. 15th cent. but since the last part of E has perished. contains Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 2 written on paper. 175v–177). contains a large collection of Nazianzen’s letters. dominated by an interest in Gregory Nazianzen. paper. Paris.
. 13th cent. 15th cent. paper. besprinkled with some of Basil’s and concluding with Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 1. 13th–14th cent. and the Letters from Emperor Theodore Dukas Laskaris. LVIII. paper. the spine of the huge volume having unravelled at an early stage. C I II (71). Gregory of Nyssa’s Letter 1 appears in the very middle of the collection. amid Nazianzen’s writings (f. 11th cent. paper. codex Laurentianus Conv. the order of folios is disturbed. codex Londinensis Musei Britannici Burneianus 75. 12th cent. D tends to preserve trustworthy readings more often than the other codices. other early Byzantine Church writers follow. e. Soppr. codex Laurentianus Mediceus plut. beginning of 14th cent.g. as if by Nazianzen (f. paper. codex Hierosolymitanus Sancti Sepulchri 264. 14th cent.the letters: a general introduction
69
E
D
p
O T C H
X K f b
F
v
tensive epistolary. edition of Gregory of Nyssa. evidently based on a codex very like E. codex Parisiensis bibliothecae de l’Arsenal 234. only of value for Letter 1. beginning of 15th cent. codex Parisiensis graecus 1335. brought to the Benedictine abbey in Florence in 15th c. codex Vaticanus graecus 435. of both parchment and paper.. papet. paper.

but also chose two other mss. (Monastery of St John. The Letters. For the most part only relevant sections are translated. Mt Athos). Oxford).1 The two main branches in the stemma of Basil’s correspondence: A and B. Translations are made from Yves Courtonne. .PRELUDE 1: THE LETTERS OF BASIL
The purpose of this section is to assemble all the references to St Gregory of Nyssa in St Basil’s letters. . (The Library of St Mark. Fedwick. family Aa Barroccianus 121. They are listed in the sequence of their relation to Gregory’s chronology. 10th cent. Accordingly he chose four mss from this family as the basis of his edition. Deferrari’s edition and translations St Basil. with their relevant family noted: V P B M Vatopedinus 72. 1926 1928 1930 1934). as for example. 2nd ed. to collate for his edition. 11th cent. Bibliotheca Basiliana Vuniversalis I. Venice). Courtonne followed the judgment of several scholars2 in regarding Aa as the best family. The Letters (755 pp. xvi). Saint Basile Correspondence. representing as they do a period from which no letters of St Gregory (except perhaps one. A new edition of Basil’s letters is being prepared under Fedwick’s guidance. are further divided into subfamilies. three for A. J. Cavallin and Rudberg (Courtonne. 11th cent. in the ﬁrst selection below. family Aa
1 On the textual transmission of Basil’s letters. in four volumes (London: Heinemann. Tome II: Lettres CI–CCXVIII. (Paris: Les Belles Lettres. . Turner. 2 Bessières. (Monastery of Vatopedi. 2003). 10th cent. see now P.
. Tome III: CCIX–CCCLXVI. These bear witness to Gregory’s own writing of letters at this period. hereafter referred to as ‘Def ’. Patmos).). Also consulted is Roy J. letter 37) have survived. Courtonne chose six mss. The following are the six principal mss used by Courtonne. and four for B. family Aa Patmiacus 57. Tome I: Lettres I–C. (The Bodleian Library. as superior representatives of the B branch. family Aa Marcianus 61. omissions being indicated by: . 3 vols.

4 pala‹ boÊlesyai ≤m›n suntuxe›n.: VPB. i. and partly because I was torn every which way by demands.
. will preserve the A/B family groupings. Letter 14 TO
HIS COMPANION
GREGORY. He wrote to Basil. (the Laurentian Library. God willing. For after renouncing with diﬃculty those vain hopes which I once had in you—or rather dreams. It is addressed to Gregory Nazianzen. He was about 22 years of age at this time. excerpt3
The letter was written at the end of Basil’s year of wandering in Palestine and Egypt. They are noted at the relevant letters. if I may speak more truly. The following is the earliest reference to Gregory of Nyssa in the literary record. 8. The context suggests that suntuxe›n refers to more than simply a meeting or a talk. Several other mss. He is eager to take up his new lifestyle as soon as he can. 10th/11th cent. LC.: Courtonne I. Paris). I could not wait. Though my brother Gregory wrote to me that he had long been intending to come with us. we shall cease our wandering. family Bo Parisinus Coislinianus 237. partly because I was very reluctant to believe it for having so often been disappointed. 42–45. evidently from Caesarea.106–111. Def 1. Basil reveals that the two Gregorys. 11th cent. hence the translation. LC. In the interim Basil had been converted to Baptism and the ascetic life by his elder sister Macrina. his brother and his friend. (Bibliothèque Nationale. where some time soon.124–125. He has now decided on a spot for his ascetic retreat: in the wooded mountains on the River Iris not far from his mother’s villa.: VPBM. therefore late in 357 AD. Annisa.74 L C
prelude 1: the letters of basil Laurentianus Mediceus IV–14.
1. where he was still a student and was later to be a teacher. who had been Basil’s companion in Athens as recently as two or three years before. family Bo
Citation of mss.4 and added that you also had decided the same thing. that are not in the above list were also consulted for individual letters. for I praise him who said that hopes are waking
3 Mss.e. and tries (successfully in the event) to persuade Nazianzen to join him. Florence). ed. For I had to set out promptly for Pontus. tr. had also been thinking of joining him in whatever ascetic lifestyle he should work out for himself.: NPNF 2nd ser.

He was certainly baptized. 6 §p‹ t∞w mon∞w. LC. Def 3. when. By the term monÆ. and in the context of the ascetic life. frequently with the sense of hermitage or monastery. but was understood to be committed to it implicitly. 8.286–313 at 302–303.: VPBM. And how many days did we spend in the villa on the other side. the ascetic retreat on the Iris is meant. Hence the period to which the excerpt below refers is 358–362. ‘abode’. had possibly not taken an express vow of virginity. was set on the path to priesthood. . Macrina and the young Peter lived. the ﬁrst period of Basil’s ascetic life in Pontus. our most God-beloved brother Gregory was present with me. not the villa where Emmelia. . .
. accomplishing the same goal of life as myself ? . He gives his mature account of his religious upbringing as a child and his motives in undertaking the ascetic life nearly twenty years earlier. This was the very period Gregory of Nyssa left to take up the profession of rhetoric in Caesarea (see G. living there as a friend with a friend. ed. moreover.
5. so that I see in truth before my eyes what I have often pictured to my mind in my idle fancies . tr. 363–365. of whom the ﬁrst was Peter.prelude 1: the letters of basil
75
dreams—I departed for Pontus in search of a place of abode. Basil reminds Eustathius of his familiarity with his brother because at the time of writing (375). There indeed God showed me a spot exactly suited to my purpose. Letter 223 TO EUSTATHIUS
OF
SEBASTEIA. lit. with conversation astir among us day and night?
5 Mss. Ask yourself. Gregory is the target of a sustained attack by Eustathius and his circle.: Courtonne III. spent time pursuing the ascetic life with Basil in the retreat on the Iris. at my mother’s. This letter proves that Gregory of Nyssa. By the time of Basil’s second sojourn in Pontus. the earlier experiment for male ascetics by the River Iris had been superseded. who have allied themselves with Valens’ Arian agenda in order to thwart Basil and his circle. Nazianzen letter 11). It marks the climax of Basil’s rupture with Eustathius and is the most autobiographical of all Basil’s writings. because by that time the community at Annisa under Macrina’s direction had found a way of constituting itself as an integral monastic community.: NPNF 2nd ser. excerpt5
This letter.262–265 at 264. addressed to Eustathius of Sebasteia was written in mid 375. during his twenties. how often did you visit us in the monastery6 on the river Iris. . incorporating a house for male ascetics. 8–17 at 14.

letter 58). whether you desire our meeting
7 Mss. tr. 8.161. May no such misfortune ever befall me as to forget nature and be set at enmity with my own kin! On the contrary.: VPBM. 58. we have decided to accept as true whatever explanation you have been so good as to give us. I had long been eager it would come. LC. In the following letter Basil writes to his uncle concerning the ﬁrst of the apparently forged letters.: NPNF 2nd ser. ed. begging you to pray for us and to care for us in other respects.: Courtonne I. as your kin. As for making sense of what has happened. It is the ﬁrst of three connected letters. But as to the other matters. since we ourselves. 59. and such a man! And at the present time I have welcomed him on his visit in just the same disposition. a suitable time and a convenient place. for one reason only—that we might not. Strange to relate. So I reply.
. uncle Gregory was in sympathy with those bishops who had opposed Basil’s election as metropolitan of Caesarea and who maintained their disaﬀection afterward for some time. it seems by forging three letters as if from their uncle Gregory to Basil (Basil. add to our life a melancholy tale of a quarrel that divided kin against each other. as others have done. as I must. Def 2. having in no way altered my aﬀection for him.
In times past I have always been pleased to see my brother—and why not. who has laid down that the distinguishing mark of his disciples is perfect love. Gregory of Nyssa. they must also be determined by your magnanimity—our meeting with each other. then. It would also be displeasing to God. I have considered the presence of the man to be a consolation both for the inﬁrmities of the body and for the aﬄictions of the soul and I was especially delighted with the letter he brought from your Honour. whose correct chronological sequence is letters 60. cannot understand it. then still working as a teacher of rhetoric in Caesarea. which would bring pleasure to enemies and sadness to friends. bishop Gregory. which had been delivered by Gregory of Nyssa himself. since he is both my own brother.76
prelude 1: the letters of basil Letter 60 TO
THE DIVINE
GREGORY 7
This letter was written very early in 371 to Basil’s maternal uncle.10–13. 150–151 . in our ignorance. ineptly and clumsily attempted to bring about a rapprochement between Basil and their uncle. So if your dignity can bear at all to descend to our lowliness and share some speech with us.

the bishop himself disowning it with his own lips. 3. for we are resolved once and for all to serve you in love (cf. LC. Letter 58 TO
HIS BROTHER
GREGORY 8
This is the only surviving letter we have from Basil to his brother Gregory. 9 p«w dÉ én éj¤vw sou kayaca¤mhn t∞w per‹ pãnta xrhstÒthtow.: NPNF 2nd ser. soft-heartedness. I showed it to many of my friends. As to our most venerable brother. at some interval after the preceding letter.prelude 1: the letters of basil
77
to be in the presence of others or by ourselves.159. ed. fatuousness. Alas. guilelessness in a negative sense. though the signs of Basil’s esteem for his brother are still here. Would that I could contend with you by letter! Would that I could confront your utter naïvité as it deserves!9 Who. The fraud was exposed. You forged a letter and brought it to me as if from our common uncle. Why should I not have done so? Overjoyed. Basil famously uses two terms. We prayed that the earth might open up for us.
.: VPBM. We were thoroughly put to shame by it. Gal 5. I received it as sent by the bishop through you.13) and in every way do whatever your Piety writes that we should do. to describe his brother’s political behaviour: xrhstÒthw (kindness. it is not exactly a monument to brotherly accord. open-heartedness.: Courtonne I. tr. naïvité) and èplÒthtow (simplicity. childishness. The letter was written early in 371. The mention of Gregory’s servants in this letter indicates that he is still maintaining a household and a secular career in Caesarea. because his words on a former occasion were not born out by the reality. naïvité). 145–147 . I gave thanks to God.
1. the most reverend bishop. falsehood and deceit. 8. Def 1. good nature to the point of silliness. overwhelmed as we were by the reproach for unscrupulousness.
8 Mss. Basil’s appeal to his brother at 58. tell me. deceiving me. we shall answer the summons. we have not obliged him to tell us anything by word of mouth.9 is a precious window on his wish to win Gregory for the service of the church at this time. ever falls into the same net a third time? Who ever falls into the same snare a third time? Scarcely even irrational animals succumb to this! 2. to the glory of God. I know not for what reason.356–361. more or less synonymous.

household/domestic slave.14 you ought for this very reason to be beside me now. sharing my troubles. drawn into the ecclesiastical politics surrounding Basil’s election. And now there comes Adamantius12 bringing us a third letter. in order that you may at least guard yourself for the future and spare me. 14 §kpepol°mvsai. I shall not support it. Yet for all this.78
prelude 1: the letters of basil
4.24). therefore. If the most reverend bishops are in fact willing to meet us.
Bishop of Tyana. but even ruining our soul as well. 8. 5. But it was not genuine. soon to be at loggerheads with Basil after Valens’ division of Cappadocia. while trying only to be a peacemaker. for we have come to a life that is not only wearing out our body. you have my answer. 10. See Basil.
10 11
toË oﬁk°tou sou. in the present situation you ought to have been mindful that you are my brother.11 who told us.
. because—for I must speak frankly with you—you are no trustworthy minister in such aﬀairs. Well then. you were trying me out each time you sent the letter. 121. For it is said Brothers are a help in time of necessity (Wis 40.e. I write these words to confront your simplicity. and not yet have forgotten the ties of nature. 122. But what is become of my reason when. fatuity. unless the invitation comes in the due and proper form. we have sent them a suitable answer. Letters 120. 9. and let them send for us through their own agents. still less regarded us in the part of an enemy. Whether. For. How could I possibly accept any letters brought by you or yours? I might have prayed for a heart of stone so as not to have any memory of past events or be aware of present ones. though I myself do not refuse to face my own uncle. but endure every blow as the cattle do.13 which in other circumstances I consider ﬁtting to Christians but which ill accords in the present situation. or whether you really received it from the bishops. 12 He is evidently another domestic of Gregory of Nyssa’s household. whoever the authors may be. so far does it exceed our strength. as the bishop himself protested before our most reverend brother Anthimus. my head bowed to the ground. let them indicate a deﬁnite time and place. since you entered the fray. I can admit nothing without investigation! 6. 7. Again they delivered me a second letter as sent to me by the bishop himself through your servant10 Asterius. i. 13 t∞w s∞w èplÒthtow. 210. after a ﬁrst and a second experience. yet. But as for you.

prelude 1: the letters of basil Letter 92 TO
THE
79
ITALIANS
AND
GAULS. 13. ed. So the second is quite possibly Gregory of Nyssa. Christian. Gregory Nazianzen. Boethus. Abraham.17 Theodotus. Letter 98 TO EUSEBIUS. Maran plausibly reads Otreios (of Melitene). 16. John. Abraham. Humanist. Def 2.132–145 at 132–133. Anthimus. but a year later. Atrius. Marcian. . Jobinus. Libanius. Basil. Eusebius. 8.: NPNF 2nd ser.182.. 16 Fedwick. 17 ﬁãtriow (physician) C. Zeno. Here Basil answers the regret expressed by Eusebius of Samosata that Basil’s brother was not been appointed to a more important see.164–171 at 132–133. 18 Mss. Joseph. uncle Gregory might reasonably be ruled out. There are two Gregorys mentioned here. 20 Op. Barsumas.: NPNF 2nd ser. Def 2. Bassus. rumours of whose doctrinal slipperiness were reaching him. Eusebius was one of Basil’s greatest mentors. Theodotus.: VPBM. 8.177. Fedwick20 would date it to the same month. who co-consecrated him a bishop in 370. on behalf of the alliance of Neo-nicene bishops in Cappadocia and in the diocese of ‘Oriens’ headed by Meletius of Antioch. From the letters above. excerpt15
This letter was written in 37216 to the bishops of the west. Gregory. at this stage is not operational as a bishop—having retired from Sassima to assist his father at Nazianzus. tr. Barach. Iosaces.: Courtonne I. Gregory. 198–203 at 198.: VPBM. Vitus. Chosroes. 211–213 at 213.
BISHOP OF
SAMOSATA. p. greetings in the Lord . though for the present. 30. Ascetic p.
. LC. in which case this would the ﬁrst historical reference to Gregory as bishop. LC. Narses. Eustathius has convinced him of his orthodoxy.
To our most God-beloved and most holy brothers. bishops of like mind with us. we Meletius. newly ordained a bishop. . His son. ed. cit. Maris. excerpt18
According to Loofs19 this letter was written in June 372 at Sebasteia. The ﬁrst is surely Gregory Senior of Nazianzus. Paul. friends and collaborators in the Neo-nicene cause. fellow-ministers in Italy and Gaul. p. Eustathius.
15 Mss. Basil of Caesarea. Basil refers to a recent meeting with Eustathius of Sebasteia. Theodoret. tr. 19 Eustathius von Sebaste und die Chronologie der Basilius-Briefe. Thalassius. shortly after Valens’ division of Cappadocia. Pelagius.: Courtonne I. Daphnus.

8. I will not myself say. . Basilii xxiv) however. Maran (V. . Tillemont thought Gregory of Nyssa was meant. 16. in the same circumstances as letter 98. LC. against Basil’s wishes. and how they pained us. I pray that
21 tÚn dÉ édelfÚn GrhgÒrion. but also to make little things great by his own power. Def 2. that want of politic judgment.
.
1. this time in ecclesiastical aﬀairs. But that would have been the whole Church under the sun gathered into one! But since this is impossible. For though the letter of your Reverence possessed sweetness and great consolation in itself. 23 Op. 22 Mss. this cannot mean Nazianzen. will give your Piety a full account.80
prelude 1: the letters of basil
. Letter 100 TO EUSEBIUS. who never took up the appointment. its charm was enhanced by its timeliness. The early printed editions inserted §mÒn. Gregory has made contact with the Old Nicenes who had been associated with Marcellus of Ancyra. For it is the part of a truly great man not only to be equal to great things. 3. ed. p. Our deacon. Nevertheless. Courtonne (xi) is also of this opinion. It means that Gregory. however. newly a bishop. 206–207. cit. Basil. having decided once and for all to forget my griefs. is still displaying that ‘simplicity’ or ‘naïvité’. . What the circumstances were. p. let him be a bishop who does not receive his dignity from the place but from whom the place receives it’s dignity. 2.184. Versiﬁcation is supplied here in the absence of any in Courtonne. tÒn (the personal pronoun made explicit). especially if the sea also happened to be whipped up by the winds. I had also wished that my brother Gregory21 were governing a church commensurate with his gifts.: VPBM. argued that it refers to Gregory Nazianzen. for which Basil upbraided him in letter 58 before his brother had became a bishop. 373. I beheld the letter of your Charity in this neighbouring country of Armenia with the same feelings with which those at sea behold a beacon ﬁre shining from afar over the deep. 30.: Courtonne II. . that Basil implies that ‘Gregory’ is still governing his see.
BISHOP OF
SAMOSATA22
According to Loofs23 this letter was written from Armenia in July or August 372. 24 Op. however. Here it appears that.. cit.7). uses hyperbole.: NPNF 2nd ser. Note.182–187 at 132–133. Fedwick24 places it at the end of June. . in speaking of his brother’s ‘plotting against’ him (100. tr. My body has failed me so completely that I am unable to bear even the slightest movement without pain.

at the synod we hold every year in memory of the most blessed martyr Eupsychius25 on the seventh day of the month of September. The reference seems to be to the followers of Marcellus of Ancyra. 5. He would dearly wish that his brother might be willing to go as envoy of the eastern Neo-nicenes to Pope Damasus of Rome. Basil used the annual synod as an occasion to rally his diocese. tr. iv2). but he is too aware of his complete lack of political sense (see letters 58 and 100 above) to expect that he would avail in dealing with one whom Basil regards as too haughty to listen to those who would speak candidly of Eastern aﬀairs from intimate acquaintance. while we are still on earth. 5.28 Letter 215 TO DOROTHEUS
THE PRESBYTER 29
Basil wrote this letter in the autumn of 375.E. H. we shall have truly good hopes for the future also. ed. Let this take place if possible.: VPBM. Instead of translating ‘convenes synods in Ancyra’—the new bishop of Nyssa
is scarcely in any position to be convening synods in the metropolis of Galatia—it is better to understand katå as translated here (L&S Lexicon 883 #Biii. since the aﬀairs of our own church have been neglected for so long a time. 28 ıw sunÒdouw sugkrÒtei katå tØnÉAgkÊran ka‹ oÈd°na trÒpon §pibouleÊvn ≤m›n éf¤hsin. we are encompassed by matters worthy of serious attention which need your collaboration.236–239. at any rate. 29 Mss.254–255. 6.prelude 1: the letters of basil
81
my old longing can now.: NPNF 2nd ser. 4.26 an event which is now approaching. be fulﬁlled with the help of your prayers. although it is true that this sojourn abroad had caused me great diﬃculties. LC.27 who convenes synods regarding Ancyra and leaves nothing undone to plot against us. Moreover. 8. His letter 243 also mentions Dorotheus who carried a letter for Basil.
25 A layman who was martyred during the Emperor Julian’s visit to Caesarea in 362.3 Basil shows himself of mixed mind with regard to Gregory. 26 Basil uses the Latin name: toË Septembr¤ou. that we shall not be wholly excluded from the gifts of God. concerning both the appointment of bishops.: Courtonne II. Yet if. See Sozomen.11. Versiﬁcation is supplied here in the absence of any in Courtonne. 7. and the investigation and deliberation of the actions meditated against us by Gregory of Nyssa in his simplicity.
. In 215. 206–207. God will deem us worthy to see your Piety in our church. for his part in overthrowing a temple to Fortune. Def 3. we beg you. 27 ka‹ sk°yin t«n meletvm°nvn kayÉ ≤m«n parå t∞w xrhstÒthtow Grhgor¤ou toË Nussa°vw.

Gregory my brother. But for my part. p. tr. while at the same time I did not want to hinder our very dear brother Acacius by any delay in the matter. I do not know why no-one has told your Intelligence that it is quite impassable in winter.30 and that although a meeting with him would inspire respect in a kindly disposed man and be worth much.
ıw éllÒtrian ¶xei yvpe¤aw éneleuy°rou tÚ ∑yow. Vicar of the civil diocese of Pontica.
excerpt33
This letter was written in December of 37534 or according to Fedwick35 in June/July of that year. Pope Damasus of Rome. According to Theodoret’s account (H.
. 8. the time will be right—provided that the most God-beloved bishop.: NPNF 2nd ser. 34 Loofs.: VPBM.E. I promptly availed myself of the opportunity and addressed a letter to that most admirable man. The addressee is Demosthenes. an aggressive implementer of Valens’ arianizing policies.
AS BY COMMON CONSENT.82
prelude 1: the letters of basil
1. yet with a lofty and elevated personage who is seated somewhere on high and is therefore unable to listen to those who from a lowly position on the ground tell him the truth31—what would be the beneﬁt to our common interest from his meeting such as Gregory. ed. and I realize that he is quite inexperienced in the aﬀairs of the Church. Count Terentius. whose character is foreign to servile ﬂattery?32 Letter 225 TO DEMOSTHENES..
I. op. and charged him to show the letter ﬁrst to you. 2. 21–23. But if it is necessary to go by sea. thinking that it was less suspicious to write to him by means of strangers about the present concerns. But as for the road to Rome. 4. 35 Op. cit. 3.267. I do not see that there is anyone who can escort him.320–325.. Def 3.e. n. LC. cit.: Courtonne III. agrees both to the sea voyage and to the ambassadorship of matters so important. the country intervening from Constantinople to our regions being full of those hostile to us. 17. p. 9. So I have given the letter to the revenue-collector of the prefect as he set out on the public circuit.
Mss. the emperor Valens and his prefect Modestus had unsuccessfully attempted to intimidate Basil
30 31 32 33
êpeiron ˆnta t«n katå tåw §kklhs¤aw. 2.16).

Despite the punctilious courtesies. 6. but which might be expected partly to elude Demosthenes. escaped.E. 21 n. .26 and Sozomen H. 3. and your authority. and was now in a safe place not named by Basil. It was necessary. With scrupulous politesse. 2. He also repeatedly hints that canonical and doctrinal questions are not the business of civil rulers. Versiﬁcation is supplied here in the absence of any in Courtonne. 4. In reality. also Socrates H. and that Gregory. and that he is attempting to injure the Neo-nicene cause by attacking his brother. 37 Cf. Maraval. moved by the reproaches of Philochares. he intimates to Demosthenes that Gregory is now under his own protection. and that henceforth the Vicar should direct his attentions to their real object. having been arrested. by a ﬂare-up of an old kidney complaint. one can scarcely miss a vein of subtle irony—at least on Basil’s part. p. he obeyed the summons—for how might he do otherwise? But he was seized by a pain in the side. we were expecting to be summoned by your Magnanimity that the truth might be learned from us—if indeed your great prudence were willing to make the examination of ecclesiastical aﬀairs your own concern.
. Basil wrote this carefully crafted oﬃcial letter to defend Gregory’s failure to put in an appearance. 1990. But when the tribunal overlooked us.
. He suggests that the participle katexÒmenow is causal.E. hidden somewhere. if he was the same man of low culture mentioned above and as is the case in letter 237 below. When we realized that some of the enemies of peace were about to rouse your august tribunal against us. a brave position to take in the prevailing Constantinian ideology of state and church. He knows that the Vicar will not openly assail him. In that episode a Demosthenes. 1.16 for related accounts of his staunch opposition to Valens and Modestus and his survival. but was put ﬁrmly in his place by Basil. superintendent of the imperial kitchen.prelude 1: the letters of basil
83
some four years earlier. himself.37 to convey him
36 Cf. ordered our brother and fellowminister Gregory to be arraigned. It would help explain his implacability reported here. . In the winter of 375/376 the present Demosthenes had summoned a council at Ancyra in which he tried to secure the arrest and imprisonment of Gregory of Nyssa on what seem rather strained charges of mishandling Church funds and of irregular ordination as bishop. Basil is calling Demosthenes’ bluﬀ. 3. and at the same time because of the chill that came upon him. The sequel to these events may be traced in Basil’s letters 231 and 237 following.36 Gregory Nazianzen’s remarks about the threats of ‘the chief cook’ in Oration on Basil 47 also tend to conﬁrm that the Demosthenes of Theodoret’s is the same man in this letter. had also attempted to berate Basil. being as he was under the inescapable guard of the soldiers.

either small or great. where his body might receive care. under every necessity. because if there has been any defect in the canonical procedure.1. that nothing pertaining to the canons.39 or bring us to a necessity of meeting bishops with whom we have not yet come to agreement on Church questions. For neither was the public good any the worse for our postponement nor were the interests of the Church in any way harmed thereby. 9. to undertake the ministry. it is diﬃcult even for us to meet. was omitted in the appointment of the bishop. 4. we all38 need to be present. the bishops of Cappadocia. God willing. those who did the ordaining are responsible. and to prove the mischief of those who have brazened your careful hearing of the case. But if it is something else of a canonical nature that requires investigation. and not to drag us beyond its borders. and your Magnanimity consents to undertake to hear and to judge it. eﬁw tØn Íperor¤an. For this reason we have all come to beseech your Greatness not to be indignant at the delay of the response. And at the same time we beg you to spare both our old age and our inﬁrmity. But if the question is about money. because many of the simpler folk are being harmed by our dissensions with each other. The judgments of oﬀences ought to be carried out where the crime is said to have been committed. 5. We therefore pray that under your rule both agreement and peace with our brothers may be achieved. For it is easy for them.
I. 9. 8. But since this has not yet come to pass.10): It is not permitted an accuser to go beyond the borders of the province. Theod. to make the truth evident to those who seek it. not he who was constrained.e. A note in the Benedictine edition cites a law of Valens for the year 373 (Cod. By the present laws we restrain the transfer of tribunals.
39
38
.84
prelude 1: the letters of basil
to some quiet spot. the treasurers of the Church funds are at hand ready to give an accounting to anyone who wishes. For you will learn by actual investigation. 7. and his unbearable pains ﬁnd relief. that it was wasted. from the very accounts of the blessed bishop. We therefore beseech you to reserve the hearing for us in our fatherland. 6.

instated by Demosthenes. ‘living free of care’. if it ever becomes possible for you.: Courtonne III. 43 44 45
ÍperÒriÒw eÙti. 41 Fedwick. tr. The tone therefore is very diﬀerent to that of the preceding letter and we learn Basil’s real opinion of Demosthenes. as long as we are still above ground.358–363 at 361–362. once of that menial occupation.66).: VPBM. but by political machinations with regard to the Church. op. deign to come and see us . Only pray that we are not left aside46 in the end.. under the bishop of Tyana. And Doara44 is in turmoil. 47 diãgei ênetow.. Cappadocia and Armenia.
40 Mss.e. ‘is taking things quietly’. i. he is now out of the civil diocese of Pontica. Therefore. p. 2002). our one relief from all troubles both present and anticipated is in seeing you. 42 See R.
One of the dioceses in Cappadocia Secunda. for the great ﬂeshy whale45 is throwing aﬀairs there into confusion.42 In short.
. 48 This seems to mean an Arian/semi-Arian bishop. our enemies are contriving plots against us at court. 36–38 at 37. or of Oriens. That seems to be the import of the word ÍperÒriÒw used in the previous letter. because he has ﬂed Demosthenes’ jurisdiction. And know that our most God-beloved brother is over the border. Paphlagonia. but literally ‘beyond the borders’. i. See Letter 239 below. Galatia.
. 78. However. Pontus. Van Dam. which covered Bithynia. which included Cilicia. Def 3. Demosthenes. LC. According to the report of those who know. if it is understood to mean not merely ‘abroad’. 8.: NPNF 2nd ser. ed. he is not under the control of the civil authorities.17. 46 §gkataleifye›nai. or. which included Isauria. .e. For my brother too continues calm.e. but thus far the hand of the Lord has been with us (Lk 1. either to the civil diocese of Asia. . .43 not enduring the annoyances of the shameless.e. cit. . I. Kingdom of Snow (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. he is living in a situation free of worry—i. This helps explains why he never travelled so far north as Pontus to visit Annisa during his period of exile. Gregory has gone south.47 and Doara has received the old muleteer48—what else can it do?—and the Lord will scatter the plans of our enemies. We learn also that though Gregory is perforce absent from his see.prelude 1: the letters of basil Letter 231 TO AMPHILOCHIUS
BISHOP OF
85
ICONIUM excerpt 40
This letter was written at the end of 37541 to Basil’s protégé and intimate friend. not by God. Amphilochius. in the NPNF translation.272.

86
prelude 1: the letters of basil Letter 232 TO AMPHILOCHIUS
ON HIS ENQUIRIES. op.272–273.: Courtonne III. tr.: NPNF 2nd ser. 17. n.: Courtonne III. Def 3. 17. i.. The letter therefore may be dated to mid to late January 376. 3.406–411. 53 pefugadeum°non e‰nai. cit. The latter seems preferable since in the 370s the Nativity appears still to have been celebrated in the East on January 6.53 But do pray for him. 52 t∞w svtÆriou oﬁkonom¤aw. Eusebius of Samosata. 56 Loofs. 8. Fedwick op.56 Here we ﬁnd the fullest account of the politics surrounding Gregory of Nyssa’s exile from his see. after Cappadocia had adopted the celebration of the Nativity on 25 December. 38–39. 8. 8. p.
Every day that brings a letter from your Piety is for us a feast-day and the greatest of feast-days. We have not lived without sorrow because our most God-beloved brother has been forced to ﬂee. tr. 55–57 at 56–57. cit.: VPBM. the way the Old Law used to speak of a Sabbath of Sabbaths? We therefore give thanks to the Lord.
.358–363. And when tokens51 of the feast-day are sent in addition. 50 Loofs. par excellence. ed. p.. 55 Fedwick. the reason for Gregory’s later damnatio memoriae of Eustathius of Sebasteia in the family history. p.e. Compare Gregory of Nyssa. 25 December or 6 January. p.
excerpt49
The date of this letter depends on when the Nativity was celebrated. 54 Mss. Letter 237 To Eusebius bishop of Samosata.e. Here is established. op. op.279. the Incarnation. perhaps ‘living in exile/banishment’.: V. . LC.: NPNF 2nd ser. letter 4 and notes. ed. cit. 51 sÊmbola. . Eustathius had became the leader of a recrudescent Homoiousian party soon identiﬁed as
49 Mss. Def 3. that God may grant that he may some day behold his church healed of the wounds of the heretics’ bites . Christmas presents.50 Here is another valuable hint about Gregory’s exile from his see of Nyssa. i. a letter written in the late 380s. cit.52 Certain upheavals have disturbed us. LC. what else ought we to call it but a feast-day of feast-days. excerpt54
This letter was written early in 37655 in the Spring of that year to one of Basil’s closest conﬁdants. 11. having learned that you are well of body and that you have celebrated for your church now at peace the commemoration of the saving Dispensation.

again he returned to us. episcopal Arianizers and court toadies. Having then busied himself a short while with the army. except a division into two parts. 62 I. The vicar paid us a visit—the ﬁrst and the greatest of our misfortunes.
.e. making ﬁne distinctions. as one accused. 61 Courtonne punctuates otherwise and translates accordingly: He ordered my brother removed by a man.60 7. giving the name of senators to those in communion with us and so condemning them to civil service.e.e. and in a single pronouncement made over all the clergy of the church in Caesarea to the Senate.1). 10. whereas I see him devoted to other matters night and day in soul and body—and yet he is a friend of heretics. they sent someone to the churches63 of whose character I would prefer not to speak. .
58 éyetoÊntvn.e.61 8. For he assembled a synod of the impious58 in mid-winter in Galatia. breathing rage and slaughter (Acts 9. and when they met. the Benedictine note preferred to identify him with the intruder into the see of Nyssa.prelude 1: the letters of basil
87
the Pneumatomachoi. but your Prudence is able to judge what he is likely to be who serves such policies of men. who were doctrinally of the opposite pole. Whether he is really of heretical mind I am not sure— for I think he is quite ignorant of discourse57 and has no interest or experience in such things. rhetorical training and critical reasoning whether philosophical
or theological.
57
toË logoË. not the followers of Marcellus of Ancyra. i. i. and now found it convenient to disown his former friends and collaborate with Valens’ arianizing policies instead. And he took his seat at Sebasteia for many days. 63 Tillemont supposed this was a (heretical) bishop sent on a visitation of the churches.59 and he deposed Hypsis and set up Ecdicius in his place. he gave orders that a synod of Galatians and Pontics be assembled at Nyssa. rejecters of the homoousion of Nicea. at Ancyra. in Courtonne. on whom Basil comments in letter 239 below. and him without a name. And he ordered my brother removed on the accusation of one man. 59 I. Again. and replaced him with a heretical bishop. Versiﬁcation is supplied here in the absence of any. though no more friendly to them than hostile towards us. which declared him deposed and banished. on the border of Galatia and Cappadocia. an insigniﬁcant fellow. . 9. 6. the second synod to deal with Gregory.62 They obeyed. while favouring the adherents of Eustathius with the greatest honours. 60 at Parnassus in the Halys valley.
.

They have till now nobly and staunchly warded oﬀ the ﬁrst attacks of the Vicar. someone taken captive in war and sold oﬀ as a slave. and introduced instead a man. éndrãpodon. 68 Following M. 8. op. the other mss. and asks her to allow this to the church. 17.88
prelude 1: the letters of basil
11. . These have now driven my brother from Nyssa. an urchin. cit. and to take a bishop through him . letter 79 to Simplicia.: NPNF 2nd ser.
. ed. .66 Gregory of Nyssa’s exile is mentioned here in a list of miserable appointments to bishoprics imposed by Demosthenes in league with Eustathius. Def 3. but on a fair par with those who have put him there for the ruin of the faith. And even as I write these words this same band has set out for Sebasteia to join with Eustathius and overturn with him the aﬀairs of the Nicopolitans—for the blessed Theodotus has fallen asleep. They did this thanks to the ﬂattery practised by a godless woman who previously used to bend George to her own will and now has a hold on his successor: him they have sent to insult the pitiful name of the episcopal oﬃce . 8.
Mss.. . where he defends the election of a man who had been her slave as bishop.280. tr. And to the town of Doara they have sent a wretched fellow. p. . The paranomasia is hard to replicate in English: the archaic ‘mannikin’ would be useful. 67 êndra . 59–61 at 59–60. . .: Courtonne III. LC. contrast Gregory Nazianzen. excerpt64
This letter was written in the Spring of 37665 or mid-year. Letter 239 TO EUSEBIUS
BISHOP OF
SAMOSATA.: VPBM. cit.414–421 at 416–417. . have ‘a domestic (= house-slave) of orphans’. generally a ‘low fellow’. or rather half a man67 worth only a few obols. op. By way of contrast to Basil’s tone here. 65 Loofs. For he then attempted to persuade them to accept Eustathius. p. . 66 Fedwick.
64
. an orphan domestic68 a runaway from his own masters.

(The Library of St Mark. Letter 11 was very possibly sent from Pontus in the 360s. and letters 81–197 in the 380s. Swallow in NPNF ser. They do not duplicate any material found in St Basil. 7. (Paris: Les Belles Lettres. = L in Courtonne’s edition of St Basil’s Letters. They show that the two were great friends and colleagues and longstanding correspondents. Gregory Nazianzen have been consulted. 11th cent. C Angelicus C 14. 10th/11th cent. 79. 2003): vol. are as follows: Family u: Y Marcianus gr. (The Angelicum Library in Rome)
. S. from which no letters (except perhaps letter 37) have survived. 11th cent. Paul Gallay. grouped in their text families. Florence). & tr. vol. E. though Gregory Nazianzen kept some ﬁle of letters from his younger namesake. Manuscripts collated by Gallay. nothing has survived of Gregory of Nyssa’s letters to ‘the Theologian’. Venice) M Mutinensis Estensis 229. Cyril of Jerusalem. 2. and throw much needed light on important aspects of Gregory’s personal history. 11th cent.PRELUDE 2: ST GREGORY NAZIANZEN
The letters of Gregory Nazianzen to Gregory of Nyssa are a treasure trove of biographical information on the younger Gregory’s life. specially in the earlier period. Browne and J. G. Alas. hereafter referred to as Gallay I and Gallay II respectively. letters 72–76 in the late 370s during Gregory Nazianzen’s long retreat at the monastery of St Thecla in Seleucia. 11th cent. vol. A Londiniensis British Museum Additional 36749. (The Estense Library at Modena) Family v: L Laurentianus Mediceus IV–14. The following selection of letters are translated from the Greek text in Saint Grégoire de Nazianze Correspondance ed. (the Laurentian Library. S. 1 Lettres I–C. The translations of C. 2 Lettres CIII–C(C)XLIX. 2nd ed. when Nazianzen had settled down to a life of retirement and ill health at Arianzus.

10th cent. 81. P. Mt Athos) F Laurentianus gr. and having received the minor order of reader in the liturgy and serving as an acolyte. I’). (Monastery of St John. gr. 12th cent. both the external and internal evidence favour Gregory of Nyssa as the addressee of this letter.: YM. Paris) R Parasinus Suppl. Venice) Citations of mss.90
prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen
Family d: P Parasinus gr. (The Great Lavra. much to the consternation of his friends (and family) and the glee of the gossip-mongers. Family f: P Patmiacus 57. Patmos). 7 (‘Ep. (The Library of St Mark. NPNF 2nd ser. Mt Athos) L Athous Lavra G 59. attempting to recall him from the choice of a secular career back to the clerical path. The terminus a quo of Gregory’s decision to choose a professional career in Caesarea is January 364 when Jovian abrogated Julian’s edicts against the participation of Christians in the profession of rhetoric. 506. in the notes are grouped according to their text families. 10th cent. BJ. 11th cent. LVII–7. tr. Letter 11 To Gregory1
Despite some slight ﬂuctuation in the manuscripts. PR. But some time in the recent past he has quit all this to undertake a career in rhetoric instead. (Bibliothèque National. LA. (Monastery of Vatopedi. Family h: B Athous Vatopedi 114. 14th cent. the canonical age for ordination to the presbyterate. 11th cent. 763. 459–460. Mt Athos) J Marcianus gr. 11th cent. Family g: I Athous Iviron 355 (now 241).
1 Mss. he shows himself a master of Hellenist culture.: Gallay I. It is no surprise that even as Nazianzen attempts to recall the younger Gregory from a sophistic career. 16–18. ed. 10th cent. = P in Courtonne’s edition of St Basil’s Letters. Gregory Nazianzen wrote him the following letter of remonstrance. He is portrayed here as having been set on the path to the priesthood.
. (Monastery of Iviron. IF. Gregory of Nyssa at his oldest would then have been about two years short of 30 years old.

Peter and the monastic community at Annisa. do not continue on this path any longer. In sending this letter.prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen
91
Gregory Nazianzen probably wrote the present letter from Pontus between 363 and 365. become sober again and return to yourself (Lk 15.e. P. and your ambition. ÉAndron¤kƒ §n êllƒ (written ‘to Andronicus’ in another). LA (i.
To Gregory 2 1. IF. to the lower life. but though it is late. preferring to be called a Rhetorician rather than a Christian? 5. Do not. All thanks be to God that we would rather be the latter than the former. and what do you condemn in yourself that you have tossed aside the sacred and delightful books which you once used to read to the people—do not be ashamed to hear this—or have hung them up over the chimney like the rudders and hoes in winter-time. 3 I.5 and have applied yourself to salty and bitter ones instead. 2. according to Euripides. why should you not openly hear from us what all are saying in whispers? 3. but to another Gregory of the same name). one of the devices of rhetoric. Basil had to maintain a discreet pressure for some time. excellent friend. 4 Euripides.17). t“ aÈt“ YM. Works and Days 629. Phoenician Women 531–532.4 4. for it is certain that he stayed during that period with Basil. 5 Allusion to Hesiod. BJ. Gregory of Nyssa). added in margin of A: gr. O wisest of men. see the section Gregory chooses a secular career in the Introduction. For further discussion of the background of this letter. They do not commend your inglorious glory— to use one of your expressions3—and your decline. the worst of demons. éllå prÚw …mÒnumÒn tina Grhgor¤on (not to the one from Nyssa. Macrina. Make your apology to the faithful and to God. But there is no evidence that he was won over again to service of the Church—and to resume the path to the presbyterate and the episcopacy—till some seven or eight years later.e. once his brother Basil had became metropolitan in Caesarea. little by little. and a ‘political’ emergency provided the catalyst. added in margin of PR: oÈk prÚw tÚn NÊshw. I have one good point in my nature—for even I will boast of one among the many possessed by others—I am equally displeased with myself and my friends over a bad decision. and to the
2 Grhgor¤ƒ. the hope was no doubt that the younger Gregory would more likely listen to a friend than to his own siblings.
. What has happened to you. Now since all are friends and kin who live according to God and walk by the same Gospel. which also appears in Letter 235. an oxymoron. Even then.

or giving or receiving blows to the head in the shows. 7. as the Tragedy says. If you were practising boxing in public. he became an enemy. 8 The conclusion of the 3rd letter. would you say that you were practising wisdom of soul?7 The argument is not that of a wise man.
. See R. said one of the Pythagorean philosophers. that Gregory has become an apostate from Christianity. It is shallow to accept it. dear friend. he wrote.8 But for your sake. 7 The inference is to the tricks of sophistic style which are now Gregory’s preoccupation. ‘but if not’. 13.e. even if I grant it to you in part. 11. though still a friend’. lamenting the defection of a companion. What of the oﬀence caused others by your present employment—as is to be expected with those who are always prone to see evil—and the occasion given them to suspect and to speak the worst of you?6 Falsely. ‘If you make a change I shall rejoice even now’. an assumption all the more likely with Julian’s strictures a very recent memory. 603. ‘you are dead to me’. Hercher. Thus far my exhortation.
6 I. if you do not also persuade others. which is the next. But I shall be saddened—to speak mildly—if you yourself neither recognize what you ought to do. 9 Euripides. And do not put me oﬀ in subtle rhetorical fashion: ‘What. and I may add. Phoenician Women 1446.9 10.92
prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen
altars and mysteries from which you have distanced yourself. which is the part of those most worthy of praise. And whether I ought to pray with you or for you. come to the aid of your weakness. 8. Epistolographi Graeci. was I not practising as a Christian while a rhetorician. Forgive me if because of my friendship for you I am distressed and I burn both on your behalf and on behalf of the whole priestly order. yes. not as you ought to have been. may God who gives life to the dead. No. was I not a believer when engaged among the boys?’ And you might perhaps call God to witness. of all Christians. I will not say ‘Being a friend. nor follow the good counsel of others. or writhing and twisting yourself disgracefully. 6. but why the necessity? For one does not live for oneself alone but also for one’s neighbour: it is not enough to persuade yourself. 9. the letters of Pythagoras’ and disciples.

which was reﬂected in brevity in necessary communication. Letter 73 To the same12
For the background of this letter. tr. by communicating his own disposition. the less grievous they become.
10 11
. 7.: YM. as you write. BJ.: Gallay I. This letter. LA. conﬁrm. where the title to the same refers back to a title to Gregory in a preceding letter. letter 6. except BJ. the exiled bishops were recalled. LF. unlike the preceding letter. Nazianzen’s patient but sure expectation of a reversal of circumstances was remarkably prescient. LF.
Mss. ed. Again this letter replies to a letter from the younger Gregory who seems to have commented on some slight or disregard shown to Gregory Nazianzen.: NPNF 2nd ser. 231. PR. 91. and the following letters 73 and 74. at which Gregory returned to his see. 7. ascribe the Letter to Gregory of Nyssa. 460. at the end of 375. Gregory of Nyssa. in which case it may be written during Nazianzen’s retreat at the monastery of St Thecla in Seleucia of Isauria. 232. 92. They will hiss for a little while. PR. 460.prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen Letter 72 To Gregory of Nyssa10
93
This letter appears to have been written in the spring of 376. all throw some light on the younger Gregory’s state at this time. has written to the older Gregory. and this all the more so the more we commit the whole aﬀair to God.: NPNF 2nd ser. For the less we grieve over things. P. Even before Valens’ death in August 378. expressing his despondency at the apparent triumph of the heretics’ machinations. Gregory Nazianzen seems to be currently in a period of commitment to the discipline of silence. that I know well. see the note prefacing the preceding letter. Gregory Nazianzen uses the somewhat more formal ﬁrst and second person plural throughout.: YM. as all the mss. written to console him in answers to letters now lost. It is curious that in this letter. in the circumstances recounted by Basil in letters 225.: Gallay I. tr. All mss. LA. to the great joy of the faithful—see Gregory of Nyssa. with his vulnerable sensibility. BJ. and then they will hide themselves again when confronted by the truth and the times. 237. It is nothing strange that the heretics have thawed and are taking heart from the springtime and are creeping out of their holes. The context seems to be Gregory of Nyssa’s deposition from his see just lately. P.
To Gregory of Nyssa11 Do not be too distressed at your troubles. ed. He may be gently correcting what the younger Gregory has said about being overlooked. 12 Mss.

when he returned to Nyssa to attend to the ‘Galatian heresy’ that had sprung up in his absence.: NPNF 2nd ser. for aﬀection leads us to hold our concerns in common. and that the tempest will resolve itself into a gentle breeze. and do not neglect to tell me all about your aﬀairs and to pray for me. the impression here is that Gregory of Nyssa’s period of exile is nearing its end. the other comes from your generosity. But if you are detained by the pressure of aﬀairs. for in this letter Nazianzen already refers to him as ‘the common prop of the Church’. as you are accustomed to do. May the good God grant you health and good spirits in all circumstances— you who are the common prop of the Church. Though I abide here. The one is what we deserve.
To the same 1.
. 7. they are longer than silence. I pray. IF. Taking heart in God’s love for man and in your prayers. If such is the case. But a more likely period is after Gregory of Nyssa’s return to his see. do at any rate cheer me with a letter. I have great hopes that all will turn out according to your mind.94
prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen To the same
Of the matters that you wrote to me. 460. Macrina. ed. and that God will give you this reward for your orthodoxy: that you prevail over your opponents. LA. May we therefore see you soon and hear from you in person. 2. tr.: Gallay I. The letter too shows that the two Gregorys were in constant contact by letter and that the younger Gregory used often send news to Gregory Nazianzen. Pray for us! Excuse the fewness of words. but are glad when honoured. One such occasion might be after the burial of his sister. I am abroad with you through love. if they are short. He seems to be able to move about more freely in Cappadocia than when he ﬁrst went into hiding. 92–93. Letter 74 To the same13
On the possible background of this letter see the prefatory notes to letter 72. this is what we think: we are not disappointed at being overlooked.: YM. when he began to assume a prominent role in Church aﬀairs. for at any rate.
13
Mss.

for which he had been training himself his whole life long.1. BJ. VSM 39. 3–16 at 13. and Basil must have still been in a condition to give his opinion. 2. LA. 16 Oration 43. But to witness the desolation of his church. But after all the other privations there is now this. 3. P.: YM. tr.
14 Mss. for these things two philosophy aﬃrms: to bear success with moderation and adversity with dignity. that because of my present bodily illness of which I am still in great peril. IF. for he assures us that such a project was not without Basil’s approval. a kind of spiritual standard. D. Gregory had retired in poor health to the monastery of St Thecla in Seleucia of Isauria. The latter may have still been at the monastery of St Thecla in Seleucia. 17 As did the younger Gregory after he had buried Macrina: ‘I ﬁrst cast myself on the tomb and embraced the dust’. shorn of such a glory and bereft of such a crown is a sight that no one—at least no one of any feeling—can bear to let his eyes look upon or lend his ear to.16 The present letter is Gregory Nazianzen’s ﬁrst response to the news of Basil’s death. 93–94.15 or he may have already returned to Arianzus to put his aﬀairs in order for his coming journey to Constantinople. 4.
To Gregory of Nyssa 1. A much longer and far more considered response to Basil’s death was to come some two or three years and many tumultuous events later in the form of his Oration 43. This too was reserved for my painful life. his own esplendent tribute to Basil’s life. For you two were a pattern to all others of philosophy. PR. I cannot kiss that holy dust17 or be with you to philosophise ﬁttingly and to console our common friends.: NPNF 2nd ser.
. SP 29 (1997). 378). ed. 256). ‘The Collapse of the Homoeans in the East’. He grieves that he is prevented by serious illness even from coming to pay honour at Basil’s tomb and share in the consolation of his friends. Barnes. This is what we have to say to your Excellence. Maraval. will not draw as much comfort from anyone else as from your own self and your memory of him.2. 5. But I think that you. both of good order in prosperity and of steadfastness amid adversities. 460–461. See T. though you have many friends and receive many words of condolence. 7.1 (GNO 8.: Gallay I. 410. 15 After a period of pastoral activity in Nazianzus from Easter 372 to 375. that I should hear of the death of Basil and the departure of that holy soul who has left us to be with the Lord.prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen Letter 76 To Gregory of Nyssa14
95
Gregory of Nyssa wrote to Gregory Nazianzen to tell him the news of Basil’s death (late September.

tr.96
prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen
But as for myself who write these words. 461. P. though you yourself are not ﬁxed in one place. LF.: Gallay I. 7. 1) considers that Nazianzen wrote this letter to Gregory of Nyssa in 381. All mss.: NPNF 2nd ser. 104 n. For the travels of the driftwood are will-nilly. ed. who undoubtedly began his letter with a lively description of the behaviour of driftwood and then applied it to his own situation. except your company and your conversation.: YM. To this Gregory Nazianzen opposes the imagery of the beneﬁcent circuits of the sun and of the planets that though they wander do so in good order. shortly mentioned.
Mss. Otherwise one might as well blame the sun for circling the world dispensing its rays and sowing life wherever it passes. But you must not. 104. One might be inclined to date it a little later. PR. such as the one to Jerusalem and Arabia (Gregory of Nyssa letters 2 and 3). which the blessed one has left in place of all else. 2. Letter 81 To Gregory of Nyssa18
Gallay (I. BJ. while praising the ﬁxed stars. so that by discerning his character in you as in a bright and shining mirror. scorn the planets whose very wandering has a harmony in it. but your journeyings are according to God and your stability is in doing good to others. at the end of a long period (of some two or three years) during which the younger Gregory had been undertaking many journeys of visitation to churches as a representative of orthodoxy. 20 tª periodƒ. what time or what words shall console me. You are upset at your journeyings20 and you seem to yourself as unsteady as the driftwood carried along on a stream. the term used for the circuits of the heavenly bodies. or. continue to think like this at all. attest Gregory of Nyssa as the addressee.
18 19
. except LF: ‘to Gregory’. dear friend.
To Gregory of Nyssa19 1. I might think myself to possess him still. This letter replies to a letter from the younger Gregory. LA. if the conﬁrmation of his status as a living ‘canon’ of orthodoxy at the council of 381 involved him in still further journeys.

: YM. 4. and asking him to exercise for his and Eulalius’ sake his role as a paciﬁer of ecclesiastical dissensions. 2. with the intention of ousting him from the administration of that church. what is worse. PR. tr.: Gallay II.prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen Letter 182 To Gregory21
97
This letter was written in 383. and fearing the exigencies of a neglected church. Gregory wrote the following letter to Gregory of Nyssa making plain his own dispositions in the aﬀair. he agreed to temporarily administer his father’s former church of Nazianzus until the episcopal vacancy was ﬁlled. pressed by Gregory’s importunities. owing to my dying health. they ﬁnally chose his cousin Eulalius. 5. 24 Not a ‘stranger’ to Nazianzus. ed. 461. P. out of reverence for our father23 and for those who begged us. But being in great need. as though they had proclaimed another bishop in our place against our will. but as a bishop ordained for another diocese. by the power of the Spirit who sustains you and your activities. PR. Alas for me that my sojourning is prolonged (Ps 119. t“ aÈt“ (to the same—i.: NPNF 2nd ser. in whose arms may I breathe my last. which was not opposed to the canons and was a relief to me. I asked this favour of them. 3. but. LF. spread lying rumours about us and our lords the bishops. 71–72. Gossip-mongers however. LA. Grhgor¤ƒ §piskÒpƒ (to Gregory the bishop). Gregory of Nyssa)
21 22
YM. His fellow bishops would have preferred to maintain this situation as the status quo. whom I now place in your hands: I mean the most reverend Eulalius. When Gregory retired from Constantinople to Arianzus in 381. 23 Gregory Senior. But if someone thinks that it is not right while a bishop is still alive to ordain another. a bishop very dear to God. although for a short time. 7. a man worthy of your piety. let him know that he will not win his case against us in this. I beg. and. Grhgor¤ƒ BJ.5). not to Nazianzus. but to Sasima. BJ. LA. For it is well known to all that we were assigned. This I am sure that you yourself will re-establish. who died in 374. Grhgor¤ƒ §piskÒpƒ NÊshw (to Gregory bishop of Nyssa) P.
. But let no one. bishop of Nazianzus. were spreading false rumours that the election had been against his wishes.
To Gregory22 1. we as an outsider24 undertook the presidency. that they might give a pastor to the church.e.
Mss. He has been granted to your prayers. that there are war and dissensions among us and that we have not protected the peace that we received from the holy fathers.

and in truth yoke-fellow (sÊzuge) of great Gregory. is inclined to think Theosebia was Gregory’s sister.: YM. Theosebia. may be anachronistic even as late as the late 4th century.: NPNF 2nd ser. ‘Grégoire de Nysse à travers les Lettres de saint Basile et de saint Grégoire de Nazianze. Mémoires 9. Footnote 54 reports that some have recently supposed that Theosebia was Gregory Nazianzen’s wife. In Daniélou’s reckoning. Daniélou. consolatory25
The following letter was written to console Gregory of Nyssa on the death of Theosebia. At a seasonable age.26 J. Vigiliae Christianae 19 (1965). 4. 6. is one of the illustrious siblings extolled in Gregory Nazianzen’s other epigrams. but is called ‘sister’ because they observed continence. 28
Grhgor¤ou megãlou sÊzuge étrek°vw. PR. In order to assess the identity of the Theosebia in this letter. P. 31–41 at 41. i. Paris. 2. Danielou. child of noble Emmelia. who is the ‘yolk-fellow’ 3. who is a priest. Theosebia. That one of Emmelia’s daughters is speciﬁed as a syzygos in both epigrams is a linguistic signature allowing us to identify her as the same person. his own sister and/or helpmate in the church of Nyssa according to others.
25 Mss. the identity of this Theosebia’s ‘illustrious siblings’ remains a puzzle. in ‘Le mariage de Grégoire de Nysse et la chronologie de sa vie’. Daniélou would date it more precisely to 385. Accordingly. any a priori assumption that a priest and even bishop could not have continued to live with a wife except in celibacy. in the prefatory note to Nazianzen’s Letter 197 (PG 37.e.27 Today. 321–322). 1862. 26 J. his wife according to some commentators. therefore in the mid to late 380s. you departed this life’ (BiÒtou dÉ Àriow §xelÊyhw)’. 71–8. and Epigram 164 in which he says: ‘And you. one who was Gregory’s wife and another his sister. 461–462.28 lie here in holy soil. But there are serious reasons against the duplication of Theosebias. tr. 88–89. O support of pious women. but reports that Baronius thinks she was his wife. The Benedictine editors. BJ. Tillemont. of an eminent Gregory. it is necessary to take into account the data of Gregory Nazianzen’s Epigram 161 in which he describes one of Emmelia’s daughters as ‘yolk-fellow of a priest’ (ﬂer∞ow sÊzugow). ed. consider it an error to suppose that Theosebia was Gregory’s wife. 5. argued enthusiastically that Gregory was married and that his wife was the Theosebia lamented here. 732–733. ILF. LA. Revue des Études Augustiniennes 2 (1956). died at a ‘seasonable’ age. it was written in Gregory Nazianzen’s later years. Emmelia’s daughter. She is: 1. 27 These views were not new. 7. Note ii. and that she was only called his ‘sister’ metaphorically.: Gallay II.98
prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen Letter 197 To Gregory. it means that he has united the experience of married life with a commitment to service of the Church—a good point. From the close of the letter. others want to have her joined to Gregory of Nyssa in matrimony.
. when Nazianzen tells Gregory that he knows ‘better than anyone else things both divine and human’. He also mentions that Nicephorus acknowledged that Gregory had been married.

but I will also call her “my Theosebia” because of spiritual kinship. should be writing of two diﬀerent Theosebias. is one of illustrious siblings. . apart from a wife. Yet it was also readily applied to those who share intimately in the same work. is the excellence of their children .2 Theosebia is explicitly called the younger Gregory’s sister. . permitted by the canon law of the time.5 on spiritual and bodily kinship or belonging to the same family (sugg°neia). of an eminent Gregory. It had even been used of rivals in gladiatorial combats. It is worth noting that the term used in epigram 161 for companion. in identical case on so many points. is a ‘yolk-fellow’. Nazianzen’s praise of Emmelia’s fruitfulness in Epigram 162 has been cited in the introduction. before the onset of old age. in my opinion. is the same used in the present letter. That the one author. Nazianzen. 4. When the data of the epigrams and of the present letter are collated in this way. That one or two should merit praise may be ascribed to nature.3. beside whom lies the great Basilissa. especially in the feminine form. died at a ‘seasonable’ age. if among these can be reckoned Macrina. ‘yolk-fellow’.’. 3. It is the same author presenting the same thought in this letter. She clearly died at just the ‘right time’. therefore. Theosebia was not his wife. Gregory particularly notes Thosebia’s timely death. is Gregory’s celibate. sÊzugow. It is true that the term syzygos (lit. who lived in close association with him at Nyssa. . as St Paul used it in Phil 4. who suﬀered so much from the diminishments of illness and age. Nazianzen’s Epigram 154 concerns a similar case: the priest George. The Theosebia of the present letter. ascetic sister. 2. scarcely an image of spouses. the conclusion is patent: the two sources are dealing with the same person. The older Gregory is in eﬀect saying: ‘You may be able to call her “my Theosebia” because of bodily kinship. ‘his sister (kasignÆth) in ﬂesh and spirit. 5. but eminence is found in all . and that is the higher kinship’.29
For further discussion of Gregory’s married state see the introduction. That this is not simply metaphorical usage is clear from the remarks in 197. His mind is further shown when he says of the parents in Oration on Basil 9: ‘their greatest and most distinguishing feature. is really to require too much coincidence. The mention of her ‘illustrious brothers’ in both sources also tends to conﬁrm Theosebia’s identity. Naucratius. as a synonym for ‘spouse’. Basil. Nazianzen. who is a priest. commends this good fortune in both epigram and letter. ‘Was Gregory of Nyssa married?’
29
. . 6. whereas the same epigram uses a slightly diﬀerent term for ‘spouse’. companion.prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen
99
Now in the present letter we ﬁnd a subject who is: 1. i. associate) was commonly used. ımÒzugow. named Theosebia. sharing his tomb as she shared his life’. Gregory of Nyssa himself and Peter. the woman had to be an immediate blood relative. While we can agree with Daniélou that Gregory was married.e. Living with a sister was one of the strictly limited forms of priestly cohabitation with a woman. In 197.

2.100
prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen
The Benedictine editors (who considered that Theosebia was Gregory’s sister). she certainly fulﬁlled a ministry to women in the local church of Nyssa. Rom 12.
To Gregory. both because I could not take part in it owing to my ill health.
. 322 n.e. 46–54. and had reached as far as Euphemias. newly won back to service of the Church by Basil and coached in the spiritual life by Macrina. a consecrated virgin trained at Annisa. where Gregory’s young cousin Euphemios was buried (Epigram 129). head of the choir of virgins near the cathedral and his mainstay in time of great distress.e. and because the untimeliness might inconvenience you.30 suggested she might have been a deaconess of the church of Nyssa. From the description of her in Epigram 164 as ‘the support of pious women’. 4. and here as ‘the conﬁdence of women’. consolatory. Eph 4. described by Gregory in letter 6. to help him as he matured in his new vocation.13). Grhgor¤ƒ NÊsshw (to Gregory of Nyssa) Gallay. she thought of assisting her brother by sending their younger sister. i. ‘Euphemiade’ in Gallay. . . Gregory. a place in the vicinity of Nazianzus. consolatory31 1.1. It is conceivable that she was the founder and presbytera of the ‘choir of virgins’ at Nyssa.34 3. Grhgor¤ƒ paramuyhtikÆ §p‹ gunaik¤ (. 32 m°xriw EÈfhmiãdow. I had set out partly to visit you after so long an interval. So in a sense Gregory was initially under Theosebia’s spiritual ‘protection’ (as Macrina’s proxy) while she lived as a dedicated virgin under his episcopal protection. was given Theosebia as a sort of spiritual chaperone. one could well invoke a similar situation like that of St John Chrysostom tended in Constantinople by St Olympias. i. Gregory bishop of Nyssa) PR. and who judge as a very light matter what to others
PG 35. B J paramuyhtikÆ Grhgor¤ƒ B J.32 when the festival33 which you are celebrating there in honour of the holy martyrs checked me. Grhgor¤ƒ paramuyhtikÆ P.
31 33 34
30
≤ sÊnodow aÈtoyi ≤n tele›te. for his wife) L. t“ aÈt“ paramuyhtikÆ (to the same. PG 37. It beﬁts the good and perfect man presented to God that you are (cf.5. t“ aÈt“ (to the same. 54. t∞w ég¤aw édelf∞w Ím«n ka‹ makar¤aw. to accompany him. who know better than anyone else things both divine and human. and partly to admire the steadfastness and philosophy with which you are philosophizing—for I had heard of it—at the departure of your holy and blessed sister. Gregory of Nyssa) YM. In that case.10 and brieﬂy alluded to in 18. When and why did Theosebia come to Nyssa? One likely scenario is that when Gregory was ﬁrst recruited by Basil as bishop for Nyssa and had gone up to Annisa to visit Macrina for the second last time. I had set out in all haste to go to you.

the conﬁdence of women. 8. yet scarcely less than you.26) to use the words of the divine Scripture—she who. the glory of the Church. for that would be to say much. tØn gunaik«n parrhs¤an. escaped its sorrows through the measure of her lifespan. Accordingly.35 and yet to have sent her on and laid her up in sure dwellings. 38 tØn §n tosoÊtƒ kãllei t«n édelf«n eÈprepestãthn ka‹ diafanestãthn. And do not wonder that I repeat her name again and again. kreittvn ≤ pneumatikh: sugg°neia t∞w svmatik∞w. 7. ease of access to majesty. on the souls of all who have known her now and of all who shall know her hereafter. having partaken of the joys of this life. For I take joy even in the memory of that blessed one. though you are yourself well able to console others in this way through your own philosophy in all things. But we pray with one another as long as we are upon the earth. if not as you do. 5.prelude 2: st gregory nazianzen
101
would be most heavy: to have lived with such a one. Theosebia. conﬁdence. be her epitaph from us and my condolence for you. who before she had to mourn you. like a sheaf from the threshing ﬂoor garnered in due season ( Job 5. But what we must feel before that law of God prevailing from of old. parrhesia was a term Gregory of Nyssa particularly
applied to Macrina. which is to say much in a few words.23). It means liberty. is perfectly inclusive of sisters or brothers. The ‘mysteries’ refers to the Christian liturgy and sacraments.39 Theosebia. I also. until the common end to which we draw near no longer keeps us separated. Phil 1.
. Let this.
35 36 37
tÚ toiaÊt˙ m¢n suz∞sai. which has now taken my Theosebia—for I call her mine because she lived according to God and spiritual kinship is stronger than bodily36—Theosebia. that is. we must bear all things. The term édelf«n here. the adornment of Christ. truly consort of a priest. believe me. and of equal honour and worthy of the great Mysteries. whom the age that is to come shall receive resting on immortal pillars. was herself honoured by you with that fair funeral which is due to those like her. daring freedom. We are deprived of the meeting—which I greatly long for— for the reason I mentioned.
39 tØn ˆnt«w ﬂerån ka‹ ﬂer°vw sÊzugon ka‹ ımÒtimon ka‹ t«n megãlvn musthr¤vn éj¤an. the advantage of our generation.37 Theosebia. For discussion on the word sÊzugow (literally ‘yolked together’) see prefatory
note. truly sacred.38 6. lit. the fairest and most outstanding amid such a splendour of siblings. long to depart (cf. for we will not have long either to be pleased or aﬄicted. ‘brothers’.

.

SAINT GREGORY OF NYSSA: THE LETTERS
.

.

‘Überlegungen zur Authentizität des ersten Breifes Gregors von Nyssa’. Gallay. talent and manner of the Nyssen in the ecclesiastical history of those times. C.THE PASQUALI COLLECTION Letter 1 To Bishop Flavian1
Scholarly opinion on the authorship of the present letter wavered backwards and forwards through the second half of the 20th century.2. since it sheds so much light on the life. though it is transmitted among the Nazianzen codices. 139–165. by an easy error. 153–162. pp. Both Gallay and Devos were convinced. vol. 2 ‘This Letter found its way. 2. as letter 249. into the corpus of the letters of Gregory Nazianzen . CCXLIX. E. Mémorial André-Jean Festugière. 1–12. The problem is one of external evidence: letter 1 is transmitted solely among the works of Gregory Nazianzen. but in general this position accepted for some years. Maraval 56). P. This reassignment was not contested for four centuries. Then in 1984. but is now ﬁrmly established in favour of Gregory of Nyssa as the author of this letter. who placed the letter at the end of his critical edition of Gregory Nazianzen’s letters. eds. 139–148. Ep. This information was suﬃcient for the ﬁrst print editors in the 16th century to publish it among the works of Gregory of Nyssa. Honigmann. Maraval. It is found only among the more complete mss of Gallay’s ﬁrst two families: u and v.: NPNF ser. . B. But two mss of the u family.’ Pasquali.: p. tr. Wyss. I have not hesitated to publish the ﬁrst letter to Flavian of Antioch. 4 P. MSmar.3 A few voices of protest. This paragraph summarizes the material in Maraval. Analecta Bollandiana 102 (1984). GNO 8. Pasquali reviewed the question in his 1925 edition and ﬁrmly maintained Gregory of Nyssa’s authorship. 53–59. three articles appeared independently in quick succession which put the attribution to Gregory of Nyssa beyond further doubt. vol. VIII. Antiquité païenne et chrétienne (Genève. ‘L’authenticité de la lettre 1 de Grégoire de Nysse’. 61–70. 382–383. 5. 3 Saint Grégoire de Nazianze: Correspondence. although I was not unaware that some Nazianzen codices had eluded me.2 However in mid century the ancient attribution was revived and defended by several scholars. among which there was perhaps one or another of better quality than those I sighted. towards the end among the dubia. Maraval 106–123. . preserve a marginal scholion in a contemporary hand which notes that it is not the work of the Theologian. Klock.4 For anyone who
Mss: DABGME(+ ‘S’. such as Daniélou were raised. Devos. ‘Gregor von Nazianz oder Gregor von Nyssa?’. but of Gregory of Nyssa. in 1983. Gallay. a paper at the 9th International Patristic Conference in Oxford. 2. and most importantly P. 1984).
1
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Daniélou7 and Bernardi8 assign it to 383. was ailing. To add to that hierarchical issue were personal issues. But this was a very special celebration. 303. Peter had invited him to take part in the annual celebration of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia. Gregory charitably broke oﬀ his journey to make a diﬃcult detour through the mountains to visit Helladius. The occasion that gave rise to the present letter began with a visit by Gregory to Sebasteia once his brother Peter had been installed there as metropolitan. which gives us a double terminus ante quem.e. one of the jewels of patristic personal writing.
. La predication des Peres Cappadociens. The conﬂict between these two men was suﬃciently well known in the 6th century for Severus of Antioch to use it to justify his own stance against other bishops. However. Helladius was visiting a village there. Flavian’s election was a vote for continuing the Antiochian schism. On the way back home down the Halys valley.106
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appreciates Gregory Nazianzen’s ‘laconism’. 362–363.6 The mention of the council (of Constantinople) towards the end of the letter means it was not written before late 381. since Peter decided to use it to institute the cult of St Peter 1 of Sebasteia. On more speciﬁc causes of tension between Helladius and Gregory. is the remarkable record of that tragi-comic visit. 38–39 at 38. but so Gregory was informed. the present very lengthy letter contrasts strikingly with his manner on this score alone. his brother Basil’s successor in the metropolitan see of Caesarea. La chronologie des sermons. On Helladius’ prickly manner as metropolitan. The signs in the letter of Gregory’s advancing age and of Helladius’ ill health might suggest a later period of Gregory’s life. i. Gregory Nazianzen’s letters 184 (to Amphilochius) and 183 (to Theodore). then the dating of that homily is also germane. Helladius died in 394. It would have taken a saint in Helladius’ position to resist all temptation to jealousy—and it does seem he was somewhat short of a saint. 9 March. n. See Maraval 85. already bore the seeds of future tensions. his brevity and succinctness in the epistolary genre. the ﬁrst preached on the day of the feast of the Martyrs. The addressee appears to be Flavian. if this visit to Sebasteia was also the occasion of Gregory’ First Homily on the Forty Martyrs (in two parts. probably the same year in which Gregory died. the second part the following day). elected Meletius’ successor as bishop of Antioch during the Council in 381. Maraval suggests5 that the decision of the Council and of Emperor Theodosius in 381 to entrust the charge of restoring order in Church aﬀairs equally to a bishop (Gregory) and to his metropolitan (Helladius). 2. see the notes prefacing letter 17. despite Gregory Nazianzen’s eirenic proposal that they hold oﬀ until the death of Paulinus. a sorry standoﬀ between
5 6 7 8
Lettres. This letter. In discussing the tensions between Gregory and Helladius of Caesarea. Gregory was also the very gifted brother and doctrinal heir of Helladius’ renowned predecessor in Caesarea. cf.

13 and 16 follow the general pattern without couching the transitional sentence as a question. I will brieﬂy set out for you the tragedy. 28.4. 17. What then. a position soon reckoned as that of Patriarch. 3.2.
. as bishop of Antioch. we once at least bandied the word about on our lips. He had visited it often enough over the years and had important contacts there (see letters 2. 4. Paulinus and Evagrius.3. oÈxi toË Yeologou (‘this letter is by Gregory of Nyssa. 12.2. 3. O man of God. had both died and communion with Alexandria and Rome was reestablished. Gregory of Nyssa of course knew Antioch very well. 192). He died in 404. not even the word for it left to us. 14. 10 This type of question. Certainly.2. 15. It is as if you did not know that they are well advised for their own interests who strive to extinguish the ﬁre on their neighbours’ land. you who have until now been removed from such spite are not concerned to put out the devouring conﬂagration on your neighbour’s land. not the Theologian’).3. 13. and frequently in other works. and was holding forth to all that I was
9 flabian“ §piskÒpƒ BGMD a marginal note in the same hand as in MS: aÏth ± §pistolØ grhgor¤ou est‹ toË nÊshw.
To Bishop Flavian9 1.2. what Maraval rightly calls ‘un véritable tic de langage’. Whether Gregory also had a certain ‘political’ motive in choosing to write to Flavian is diﬃcult to say. Letters 8. 10. not only does it not exist. Flavian’s position in Antioch was not fully secure until 393 when his rivals. 19. 21. do I mean?10 Sanctity has quit this life. Meanwhile. It is now pursued with a boldness worthy of a good work.1 (Maraval 136. flabian“ E. truth has ﬂed from us. are not in a good way. 20. Flavian had higher ecclesiastical rank in the universal Church than the Metropolitan of Caesarea. and for this reason he is on balance more likely to be writing to that city than Gregory Nazianzen.2. But that you may understand more clearly what has stirred our indignation.2. t“ aÈt“ (‘to the same’) A (preceding it is Gregory Nazianzen’s Letter 64 ‘to Flavian the bishop’).2. The worsening ill will of those moved by an unjust and implacable hatred of us is no longer deduced from certain hints. is a trademark of Gregory of Nyssa’s style. 9. Our aﬀairs. but now. It occurs in letters 4. marking the transition from a vivid opening image (in this case that of putting out ﬁres) to its interpretation. 14. Through such help given to a neighbour they ensure that they will not be without help in similar circumstances. 2. 19. 11. Certain persons informed us that the most reverend Helladius was ill disposed towards us.the pasquali collection
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parties of orthodox faith: old Nicenes and Neo-nicenes. VSM 1. As for peace.

Emmelia. and to many others who might in some way help me in my purpose. dans une lettre de Grégoire de Nazianze’. deeming it more appropriate that a meeting should take place in the metropolis itself.13 celebrating the commemorations of the martyrs. I therefore wrote by letter to your piety.3. 14 Gregory often travelled in a carriage.108
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the cause of his worst troubles. Def 4. it is clear that Gregory refers to the Peter who was bishop of Sebasteia earlier in the 4th century at the time of the martyrs and who retrieved their relics from the river (Passio XL Martyrum 13. Emmelia their mother had acquired an urn of the martyr’s ashes and installed them in a martyrion in the estate at Annisa. von Gebhardt (ed. I left my carriage14 at the spot where this news overtook me. and Macrina the Younger were all buried there. But when one of his friends went to some trouble to meet me and assured me that he was sick.
. As things turned out. But when reports in the same vein reached us from all sides and events concurred with the reports. Acta martyrum selecta: Ausgewählte Märtyreracten und andere Urkunden aus der Verfolgungszeit der christlichen Kirche (Berlin: 1903). If Peter is relatively new as the bishop of Sebasteia. See letters 2. probably the four-wheeled raeda drawn by mules. Maraval 86–87 n. 8. 6. I had celebrated with the Sebasteians the ﬁrst commemoration of the most blessed Peter. Letter 283. At ﬁrst I continued my journey. I thought it ﬁtting not to overlook this ill will. évêque de Sébastée. 2. consulting only myself and the truth of the matter. once elected as bishop of Sebasteia in doctrinally unhappier times (letter 19. Devos. But thanks to P. And it is surely no accident that this celebration is inaugurated under another Bishop Peter. then he seems to be consolidating his position by inviting his famous brother Gregory. Analecta Bollandiana 79 (1961). 9.14–18) and now promoted by the Emperor himself. and urged your zeal in this matter.13. have been proposed. 12 Added with Jaeger’s shrewd conjecture: ‹mÉ› martur«n ( mÉ = ‘40’). O. as yet untreated and still without root and development. I covered the remaining distance on horseback. teetering on the brink of very rough ascents
11 Who is this Peter? Gregory’s own brother. Basil.171. with whom Peter and Gregory’s family long had fervently felt connections. to preach at the festival of the Forty Martyrs. At ﬁrst I did not believe what they said. 5b. ‘Saint Pierre 1er. 346–360. I was on my way back to my own church. 13 Cf. Gregory’s own brother.). or Peter of Alexandria.11 and the usual commemorations they celebrated at the same time among them for the 4012 holy martyrs who had dwelt there. 171–181). 6. suggests that a reason for the slowness of establishing the cult of St Peter I of Sebasteia is that originally he was buried in another town. when someone informed me that Helladius himself was staying in the mountain district. 5a. Basil Senior.

leading the horses by hand. The time wore on. a spectacle to all who were visiting the synod. Drowsiness stole over us. I found all these things so oppressive that the words of the prophet came true in me: My spirit within me grew faint (Ps 143. Without delay we sent a messenger to inform him of our coming. ÉAndoumokhno›w E. because the martyrion was a small building major celebrations would have had to have been conducted outside. as we heard from the local people. Barely making headway.the pasquali collection
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that were little short of impassable. referring to some kind of a rise or height behind his hermitage. during this untimely interlude.28). I and my company made our way on foot over the intervening ground. Whereupon I sat down in the open air. 17 As Maraval points out (89. The locality is unknown. in the early morning—for I had even employed part of the night—I arrived in the ﬁrst hour of the day at Andaëmona. Step by step. The fact that Helladius is ‘holding church’ there places it within his province. now on foot. 9. 10. 11. becoming. and weariness (cf. now on horseback. 18 Helladius has possibly just concluded an all-night vigil.15 for that was the name of the place where he was holding church with two other bishops. 7. Fifteen milestones measured the intervening distance.
. 3). we gazed down on this open-air assembly17 of the church. Ps 118. ÉAndamoukhno›w M. 16 ÖApoyen d¢ katidÒntew §j aÈx°now tinÚw Íperkeim°nou t∞w k≈mhw. a weariness intensiﬁed by the fatigue of the journey and the heat of the day and those who were gawking at us and gesticulating at us to others with their ﬁngers. n. And so I endured until the hour had already advanced to noon. the deacon who attended him came to meet us. I was greatly repenting of the visit. The term aÈxÆn appears also in Basil Letter 14.4). It is not recorded in either LSJ or Lampe. from a height16 overlooking the village. ÉAndamoukino›w A. We arrived in time for two things to take place simultaneously: he retired from the church to the house18 even as we approached the martyrion. Gregory was travelling on the Sebasteia-
Caesarea road south of the Halys. waiting for the invitation to enter. We asked him to be quick and inform Helladius so that we might spend as much time as possible with him and take the opportunity of leaving nothing between us without a cure. At a distance. Andaëmona is probably nearer to Caesarea. After a little while. the more so since I had brought the occasion of this discourtesy upon myself—indeed my own reasoning bore down on me more than the insult done me by
15 ÉAndahmono›w DBG gr margin of M. 8. since Gregory speaks of waiting to see Helladius in the metropolis.

and stood for a moment. and a terror. The Frogs.19 meanwhile. indeed. enters that realm below stripped and unencumbered. Nothing of the sort was forthcoming. so that none of the vicissitudes here are found among them.20 For no short while the time dragged as it does in the hush of the dead of night. waiting to be invited to a chair. For in Hades there is a great steadiness of condition: none of the things that work the tragedy of life on earth disturb that existence.110
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my enemies. as the Prophet says. 21 This manner of indicating a scriptural citation is never found in Gregory Nazianzen. and a tragic gloom. 16.
20
19
. or at least some welcoming gesture towards us to appear with a look. such as ‘welcome’. Why. so I turned aside to one of the outer benches and rested myself. 12. having quit the things pursued by the many here. or a dismal torture-chamber. Their glory. The terms used here mimic Euripides’ parody of Aeschylus’ tragic manner as portrayed in Aristophanes’ comedy. But at last the temple was opened to us and we were admitted to the inner shrine. remaining excluded at the entrance. or ‘where have you come from?’ or ‘on whose behalf have you come?’—so natural—or ‘what is your purpose in coming here?’ I was beginning to regard this quiet as an image of the life led in Hades. do I mention that aﬀectionate disposition of our
The tone is strongly ironical. and changing into a regret that I had undertaken the venture. when I reﬂected on the great examples of nobility we inherited from our fathers22 and what account of them we shall leave to those who come after us. supporting with his arm my body worn out from the fatigue. the inﬂation and the conceit. So I greeted him. by ‘fathers’ Gregory may mean the Apostles. 15. or a lightless dungeon. I mean the hubris. warring as it did against itself.18). Yet I condemn the similitude as falling short. though my deacon entered with me.21 does not follow men below (Ps 48. the rabble. still waiting on something kindly to be said to us. Even so my condition at the time appeared to me like that of Hades. 22 In the context of relations between bishops. each soul. 13. A silence ensued as during the night. I was struck by the notion of it all: he did not even deign to extend to me a common greeting. and a daze. one of those courtesies with which meetings are conducted. or earlier generations of bishops. 14. But everything turned out against this hope. Instead. and utter speechlessness.

who calls the dead to life (Rom 4. and that when He had entered into the house of Simon the leper he reproached him for not welcoming him with a kiss (cf. whether concerning nobility or free-birth25—18. This overstatement will be understood by Flavian and lend persuasion to his comparison.34.393–395.3) of their souls and bodies.the pasquali collection
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fathers for each other? For it is no marvel that human beings. Rom 6. But the thought that especially ﬁlled my mind was that the Master of all creation. but sought only to surpass each other in humility. Lk 7. who was in the beginning ( Jn 1. although.47–48).8) in this. where was the dust in which I lay? If indeed. 2. 1 Jn 3. who redeemed us (cf. 19. Jn 1. it will perhaps be no oﬀence to say this. from what height did he descend. that is.2 (GNO 8.1–2). that he dwelt among men in the ﬂesh (cf.1.
24
23
. being all of equal honour by nature. Jn 1.23 the only-begotten Son. Phil 2.5) and yet showed no haughtiness against those whom He redeemed. Maraval 208–212). For if one were to look to the things of this world. Gregory seems to be discreetly generous to Helladius’ social and cultural status in comparison with his own. each of us is equally a slave of sin ( Jn 8.3). who was in the bosom of the Father ( Jn 1. 25 See Macrina’s account of their family’s high standing.17) and heals every inﬁrmity (Ps 102. wished for no advantage over one another. one were to examine the things of the ﬂesh. but that he even welcomed Judas His own betrayer as he approached to kiss him with his own lips (cf.44–45). Lk 22. as when family or education or pre-eminent dignity inﬂate those of shallower
Maraval gives the reference for this phrase as III Macc. It was another who ransomed us by his own blood from death and from sins (1 Pet 1. who upholds all things by the word of His power (Heb 1. But I was not reckoned an equal even of that leper! 17.2. who was in the form of God (Phil 2.6). And yet what was I.17) and each equally in need of the one who takes away his sins (cf.29.5). not only humbled himself (cf. if one were to enquire into the true freedom and nobility. VSM 23. and what was he? I cannot discover the diﬀerence between us. Gal 4. of the soul.14).24 that we were about on a par. Since the pomposity of this conceit and self-importance against us was such that almost the height of heaven was too limiting for it—though I could not perceive any matter or motive for this disease that might make such a passion excusable in the case of some who in certain circumstances contract the disease.18).18–19).

Gregory seems to use it in this sense later in the letter. But at this speech he only hardened all the more.
. ‘the stronger impulse prevailed’). and the bath was well primed. This is what I saw in myself. warring against the law of the mind which often makes the mind both captive and subject to itself (cf. one ranged against the other: the one for crushing such hubris and inﬂation. and a celebration of the martyrs. but the divine tribunal does not admit the false reasonings that arise from deceit.’ 23. ‘Perhaps there is some treatment you need for the body that is hindered by our presence. lies have great power to deceive. and would not allow me to continue with any proofs of what I had said. my conscience is suﬃciently conﬁdent to pray that I may ﬁnd forgiveness for all my other sins.112
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dispositions26—I was at a loss how to advise myself to keep calm. the other for calming the swelling anger. and the banquet was in preparation. 3) that celebrations of the martyrs were often followed by a festive meal more or less in common. p has oÈk ekrãthsen ± xe¤rvn =opÆ (‘the worse impulse did not prevail’). nn. Rom 7. At that I spoke to him some words meant to cure. a verb with preﬁx is also more characteristic of his vocabulary.23). but not Gregory Nazianzen was liable. and it is time that we withdrew?’ 22. taking kre¤ttvn as somewhat altering its meaning to ‘better’. the battle-line of two reasonings. 24. that this remain forever unforgiven. 27 §pekrãthsen ± kre¤ttvn =opÆ (lit. He pronounced that he had no need of treatment for the body. 21. 28 Maraval remarks (99. For my heart within me was swelling with anger at the absurdity of such conduct and was thrusting aside all reasons for patience. the situation being what it was. When by God’s grace the better impulse prevailed. 20. where he says there is a certain law of sin in the members.27 I then said to him. but if I have acted in any way against you. He then stated in few words that his grievance against us was due to the many injuries I had done him.28 Again how the disciple of the Gospel imitates the Master in the Gospel! When eating and
26 The redundancy of the syntax here was a fault to which Gregory of Nyssa. In my relations with yourself. and the day was the Sabbath. It was now long past the sixth hour. I for my part answered him in this fashion: ‘Among human beings. The bath before dinner at noon was a practice known in the Greco-Roman world. which Pasquali thinks is perhaps correct. sometimes furnished by benefactors. It was especially then that I loved the divine Apostle who so vividly depicts the civil war within us. 2.

that the memory of all that had happened beforehand was freshened by this latter insult done to us. but not Nazianzen. with this superadded to the meeting. 28. What investigation was undertaken in our regard to judge between facts and suspicions? What proof was given of the alleged injury? What canons were cited against us? What legitimate episcopal decision conﬁrmed the judgment against us? 29. that he might learn that he is a human being and has no authority to disdain and dishonour those of the same mind and the same rank. For consider: grant that it is true—I am speaking hypothetically—that I have done something to cause him grievance. It was because his conduct was not checked on earlier occasions that it has led him to such immoderate conceit. In order that he might improve on himself. After all the hardship we had sustained on the path to the place. we were well pleased to reach our company. over the same distance along the same road.
. And even if any of these had taken place legitimately.e. we were not equipped with any protection against rain.the pasquali collection
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drinking with tax-collectors and sinners.). Henceforth we must in some way take counsel on our own behalf. Mt 9. but what kind of canons sanction hubris against a free-born person and dishonour against one of equal rank?
29 1. For a storm-cloud which had gathered into a mass in the clear air by the gusting of the wind. his defence against those who reproached him was that he did these things through love for man (cf. This disciple on the other hand considers our fellowship at table a kind of curse and deﬁlement.10–12 et al. or rather on his behalf. 30 I. after suﬀering many mishaps on the way. After resting with the others that night. Thus we scarcely reached our company by sunset. after all the sullen gloom we endured when we had come before his eyes. he sends us oﬀ again to toil painfully in a body already failing and utterly exhausted. in the Church. pleonastic clauses are a stylistic fault to which Gregory of Nyssa. my standing30 might certainly have been at risk. by God’s grace as from a ﬂood or a shipwreck. Saved. after the great heat in which we had baked as we sat by his gates in the open air. 26. we at last arrived in our regions safe and alive. 25. drenched us to the skin with a shower from its ﬂoods. for with the excessive heat. it is perhaps ﬁtting that something be done by us.29 27. its somewhat awkward. was liable. however.26 is a whole sentence in Greek.

9). Gregory does not mention here that Helladius was his metropolitan. and is so much now. Zech 7. 35 The reference seems to be to diocesan revenue. 26.24. Yet even if these things were so.114
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30. Helladius of Caesarius and Otreius of Melitene as the guarantors of orthodoxy and joint overseers of church aﬀairs in the civil diocese of Pontica (cf. that our own was so much at the beginning. Cod. in this we possess the same.33 32. This word only began to become current for the Christian priesthood. As both Pasquali and Maraval remark. I leave it to others to enquire into the reasons for this increase of our revenue up to the present. ‘But what about revenue?’ he will say. Sozomen 7.23. the insolence against the free-born would still be inexcusable.1. nor a commanding power of speech. nursed and growing almost daily by means of worthy undertakings. If our dignity is to be judged according to priesthood. especially the episcopate. than it has had for some centuries in the Western Church. I judge it right not to leave so great a disease of conceit in an untreated state. Gregory had been deposed by the Vicar of Pontus on an unproven charge of mismanagement of funds. if he has neither superiority of birth. at this period. The metropolitanate had much more weight then. therefore.31 the privilege accorded either of us by the Council32 is one and the same— or rather. Theod. In the mid 370s.9). The cure is to diminish the inﬂation and reduce the hollow
31 tØn ﬂerÒsunhn. 34.34 33. apart from any priestly dignity. what does one have more than the other? Family? Education? Free-birth among the noblest and most renowned? Knowledge? These things will be found either equal. in us. 33 On 30 July 381 Emperor Theodosius conﬁrmed a decision of the council. with John Chrysostom is one of the ﬁrst witnesses of this usage.35 May it not be necessary for me to enter upon discussion of these matters in his regard.3. the responsibility for common correction. nor illustrious dignity. is the authority for this insolence against us. naming Gregory. But were some to regard either of us in ourselves. On what grounds do you deem excusable this dishonour against us? 31. You who look to God. What.36 this much only it will suﬃce to say. judge a righteous judgment ( Jn 7. such a decision could not but be prejudicial to hierarchical order.
. Gregory. 32 The Council of Constantinople in 381. and still has in the Christian East. 36 Gregory hints that there is something less than worthy in Helladius’ ﬁnancial dealings. Since not one of these things are so. See also 17. it seems he darkly hints at the sin of simony. nor any previous benefaction? 35. 34 By his discreet understatement Gregory is indicating the opposite: such advantages are his. or at least not inferior.

including some late mss. RHPR 66 (1986).: Letter 18. They have given themselves over to an interior progress in the life in Christ of which outward peregrinations to the holy places at best serve as a metaphor. The context seems to be that Kensitor. the practice is pointless for those who have espoused the ‘perfect’ life. Basil’s Letter 284 is addressed to a censitor concerning the taxation of monks. monks generally.38 Pierre du Moulin.the pasquali collection
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pomposity.18: ‘urge the brothers . has written to Gregory seeking his counsel as to what to do about the women in his community who seek leave to go on pilgrimage.’). also used as proper names. . which followed on the commission given him at the council of Constantinople in 381. 545–548. 5. on the grounds of a pious vow. 38 See Maraval. launched the polemics in his notes to the edition of 1605 and in his accompanying tracts against altars and sacriﬁces. a Calvinist clergyman. Cod. consecrated women in particular. such as Censor. Maraval carried out a further collation of mss (60–68). He wished to ﬂourish Gregory as a Church Father who condemned the pilgrimages to holy places
37 Mss. But how this may be of eﬀected is God‘s concern. Here Gregory argues that even if some advantage might be construed for going on pilgrimage to Jerusalem (and he doubts it).2. The present letter became the subject of heated controversy between Protestants and Catholics in the 17th century. vol. The data of 2.38.e. by deﬂating a little of the conceit with which he is swelling. NPNF ser. tr.. which conﬁrmed some of Pasquali’s emendations and allowed Maraval to reﬁne some nuances.: GNO 8. The letter is much concerned with the advisability of travel for monks in general and for consecrated women in particular Hence it is virtually certain that Kensitor’s monastery included women ascetics. dismissed by or unknown to Pasquali. 13–19. 7. ‘Une controverse sur les pèlerinages autour d’un texte patristique’. 2.
. and in this case. A censitor was properly a provincial oﬃcer in charge of taxation.: OT%HKMXPF. Letter 2 To Kensitor on pilgrimages37
The addressee of this letter is otherwise unknown. But Pasquali shows (XXXII) that in the ancient world it was by no means unusual to ﬁnd titles of public oﬃce. Marc. and a newly discovered mss. 131–146. ed. given the spiritual rather than ﬁscal preoccupations of the letter (2. He considers that the Khns¤tor here is more likely a superior of a monastery than a civil magistrate. Maraval 106–123. who has women ascetics under his overall supervision (though they would also have had their own female superior). .11–15 and the succeeding letter indicate that both were written after Gregory had returned from his journey to Jerusalem and Arabia. i. in the arrangement assumed in Basil’s Asketikon and exempliﬁed at Annisa under Macrina.

but whether they have any value at all to a serious life in Christ that Gregory targets here. however. whereupon Jacob Gretscher S. I. He speaks of the countless saints who never set foot in the Holy Land.J. Gretscher. volume 12 (1912). Such was the controversy stirred up that the royal printer Morell. 351–354 at 354. Sweden.2–6) to explain. hom. cf. 155.6. prepared the letter with his own notes as an appendix to the edition in 1618. Even from the earliest times the Fathers warned that such devotions were liable to degenerate into an abuse. ‘Pèlerinages’. hom. Catholic acceptance of Gregory’s authorship settled down through the later 17th and the 18th centuries once Tillemont and Baronius came out in its favour. Roman’ by F. Jerome writes to Paulinus (Ep. ed. otherwise so keen in his praise of pilgrimages. Pasquali says. This has particular reference to those dedicated to God in the monas-
39 These examples are drawn from the article ‘Pilgrimages’ by Bede Jarret in The Catholic Encyclopedia. X. Let each of us at home invoke God earnestly and He will hear our prayer’ (Ad pop. Thus a vein of spiritualizing caution against exaggerated esteem for the practice can be traced in the doctrine of the Fathers. and dares not tie down Him whom Heaven itself cannot contain to one small portion of the Earth. in 1608. St Boniface was caustic in his criticism of pilgrimages to Rome. H.1:40–55. See also H. omitted this letter altogether from his 1615 edition.116
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so favoured by Catholics. and from the article ‘Pilgrimages.68). Doctors and writers across the centuries. was not far from Gregory’s purpose. he argued. He ends with a justly famous sentence: ‘It is just as easy to reach the portals of Heaven from Britain as from Jerusalem’. Augustine in which he explains that ‘It is not by journeying but by loving that we draw near to God.2. 58. Leclercq and H. 14. noting that despite synodical and royal prohibitions many of the women making such journeys lost their virtue. answered du Moulin in a small book published at Ingolstadt.672). Dictionnaire d’archéologie chrétienne et de liturgie. the author was not so much militating against pilgrimages themselves.39 But it is a question not just of the abuse of pilgrimages. The book was reprinted at Hanover in 1607. found it necessary to explain that there was ‘no need for anyone to cross the seas or venture upon a long journey. It is important to note that the dim view of pilgrimages Gregory expresses here is not unique among the Church Fathers. not by our feet but by our hearts’ (Ep. on Fronto Ducaeus’ advice. John Chrysostom. that it is not the fact of living in Jerusalem. See Pasquali LXXXIII–LXXXIV. but of living there well. Antioch. Letouzey et Ané. that is worthy of praise. Like Bellarmine. Four centuries later. Murphy New Catholic Encyclopedia volume 11 (2003). We approach Him who is everywhere present and present wholly.
.49. Cabrol. as expressing his concern over the moral safety of consecrated virgins on such ventures—which latter consideration. he found it hard to credit Gregory’s authorship. 4. Leclercq. 1907–1953). What was supposed to be a means of fostering devotion was quite capable of becoming a hindrance to it instead. Anyway. Another well-quoted passage is from St. Marrou (Paris. in an echo of Cicero’s phrase. 3.

176 (Def 2. I maintain that those who have dedicated themselves once for all to the sublime way of life45 do well always to look to the sayings of the gospel. my friend.344–345). once allowed to slacken.43
To Kensitor. and annot.
41 40
.40 Yet Basil as bishop is constrained to use these synods as means of rallying the common populace. 42 See for example. p. of course. 1997).15: ‘Therefore one must abide constantly in one’s cell.42 ‘Stay in your cell and it will teach you all things’. The idea that mobility was a hindrance to the development of a contemplative spirit was a Stoic one. and by means of the straightness of that rule return what is crooked in their hands to the straight.41 Gregory’s argument here that pilgrimages are of no spiritual advantage whatever to monks and nuns segues into a topos of monastic literature: the importance of stability for spiritual progress and the necessity of resisting the temptation to wander abroad. St Mamas: Homily 23 (PG 31 589–618). Ramsey (tr.458–461) and 252 (Def 4. The Conferences (New York: Newman Press. just as those who direct a proposed task by a rule. 45 tª Íchlª polite¤&. John Cassian. revelry and licentiousness.
See Longer Response 40 and note. F.the pasquali collection
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tic life.182–187).’ vt. In Letters 100 (Def 2. pp. For as often as a person has wandered out of it and has returned to it like a novice who is only beginning to live there. This Letter has also been ascribed to GNaz: ‘Letter of the Theologian to Gregory of Nyssa among the saints. B. on those who make pilgrimages to Jerusalem44 1. 233.). so we deem it ﬁtting that they should apply some such correct and unbent rule—I mean. Cassian’s Conferences 6. 43 A famous monastic tag repeated in various ways from Abba Moses in the Sayings of the Fathers to St Symeon the New Theologian. Basil as father of monks strongly warns ascetics from attending such aﬀairs which all too often degenerated into unscrupulous commercial dealing. See his homilies at the martyria of local saints outside Caesarea: St Gordius: Homily 18 (PG 31 489–508). The person who stays in his cell has acquired an intensity of mind that. 142 (Def 2. the gospel way of life—and direct themselves toward God in accordance with it. 250–251. I have thought it is proper to answer all your points in due order (cf. The Asketikon of St Basil the Great. Since you have sent me queries by means of a letter.18–21) he invites other bishops to the annual Caesarean synod at the commemoration of Sts Eupsychius and Damas. 240. he will waver and be disturbed. This ambivalence can be seen in Basil’s attitude to attendance at the ‘synods’ connected with the celebrations of the martyrs. he will not be able to recover again without eﬀort and pain’. Lk 1. and. 44 Ä per‹ t«n épiÒntvn eﬁw ﬁerosluma khnsitori. concerning etc. note. What might be tolerable or understandable in one sector of Christians is strongly contraindicated in another.3). p.

Lk 6. according to Basil. was to come together in properly constituted cenobitic communities. The remedy. as of the greatest vigilance if one who has chosen to live according to God is not to be inﬁltrated by any of its harmful eﬀects (cf. dignity. Mt 5.18) ask himself why a practice that neither renders us blessed nor directs us to the Kingdom should be made an object of our zeal? 4. It would be well. sacred. Marc. He argues the case in Longer Responses 7.20–22) he does not include any such object of zeal. 7. nevertheless the perfect would do well not to pursue it. Now some of those who have undertaken the solitary and retired life46 have made it a law of their piety to see the places in Jerusalem where the tokens of the Lord’s sojourn in the ﬂesh may be seen. I do not know what the fulﬁlment of such a prescription means to someone who has become a law to himself 47 of the good. Even if there were proﬁt in the venture. is the harm in these things? The sober way of life49 is open to all. gracefulness. When the Lord invites the blessed to their inheritance in the kingdom of heaven (cf.51 in which nature is not mixed up and confused. monastic) polite¤a. A mark of the philosophic life is propriety.18).118
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2.3–12. Where then. 50 eÈsxhmosÊnh.50 But this is accomplished by an unmixed and separate life. Cod. When he proclaims the blessed life (cf. solemn. 1 Tim 6.38 conﬁrms Pasquali’s emendation. to look to the rule. the harm that consists in worldliness. 48 cuxikØn (material-minded) prostr¤besyai blãbhn. seemliness. 5. if the guidance of the commandments intends such things. being very concerned about the individualism of freelance ascetics. Neither are women bolting for the safeguards of propriety among
46 t«n tÚn monÆrh ka‹ ﬁdiãzonta b¤on §pan˙rhhm°nvn. But when we learn from an accurate observation of the practice that it also imposes a harmful worldly preoccupation48 on those who have undertaken to lead the strict life. 51 …w énep¤mikton ka‹ ésÊgxuton e‰nai tØn fÊsin. Gregory recapitulates a principle of Basil’s monastic reform: there is not to be the indiscriminate mixing of the sexes that was a feature of some ascetic enthusiasts and had been condemned at the Council of Gangra in 341. then. and. decency. digniﬁed. elegance. 3.34–36). it is worthy not so much of a blessed zeal. to fulﬁl the task as a charge from the Lord. But if it is outside the commandments of the Master. Mt 25. Gregory uses ﬁdiãzonta generically to mean ‘celibate’. Let anyone who has understanding (Rev 13. both men and women. decorum. journeying to Jerusalem is not listed among their good deeds. whereas Basil uses it pejoratively (= ‘individualist’). 47 •aut“.
. 49 ≤ semnØ (serious.

For it is impracticable for a woman to pursue so long a journey unless she has a conductor.e. Really.38. as the inns and caravanserays and cities in the east55 are so free and indiﬀerent towards vice. a more precise word than the dusxer¤aiw of other mss. how is the heart not also contaminated by the unsavoury impressions received through eye56 and ear? How will it be possible to pass through such places of contagion without contracting infection? 8. that she has someone known to her to fulﬁl this service or a hired attendant—in either case such conduct cannot avoid blame.38. 6. Ùfyalm«n in other mss. Marc. Marc.e. Cod. Cod. Basil’s remarks on those who loiter in taverns and commit indecencies in Longer Responses 22 and Gregory Nazianzen in letter 2 to Basil where he deplores the ‘hucksters. 7.54 Whichever we suppose. together with modesty.the pasquali collection
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men. Whether she leans on a stranger or on her own servant. Cf. But the necessities of a journey constantly break down52 exactitude in these matters and foster indiﬀerence to safeguards.38. one might more justly consider that he dwelt in the nation of the Cappadocians than in places elsewhere! For how many altars are there in these places57 through which the name of the Lord is gloriﬁed? One could scarcely count so many altars in
52 53
parayraÊei. 7. The unsavoury reputation of inns and taverns was proverbial in the ancient world. preaching as a deacon in Antioch at this time (380s). Gregory is writing in Cappadocia. Palestine and the Arabian hinterland.
. on what kind of woman to choose as a wife (PG 51. unaccompanied in the marketplace. 55 I. takes a dim view of the sequestered and languorous lifestyle of upper class young women. He praises Rachel (Hom. Marc. she fails to observe the law of modesty. Cod. and she has to be steadied in rough terrain. perhaps to one also in Cappadocia. 7. if it is possible to infer God’s presence from the things that appear. Moreover. what gain shall he have when he has reached those places? Is it that the Lord still lives in the body today in those places and has stayed away from our regions? Or is it that the Holy Spirit abounds among the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 57 toÊtoiw. for on account of her natural weakness53 she has to be put on her horse and be lifted down again. 225–242 at 234D and 236B) for showing physical vigour and alacrity in service. 56 ÙfyalmoË. John Chrysostom. Moreover. how will it be possible for one passing through such fumes to escape without smarting eyes? Where the ear is contaminated and the eye is contaminated. but is unable to come to us? 9. 7.
Such conceptions of feminine ‘weakness’ are linked to the perceived mores of social class. and the rest of the crop of nuisances which infest cities’. the Roman diocese of Oriens. nor men among women. 54 dusxvr¤aiw. absent in other mss. covering Syria. i.

Thereafter bishops frequently availed themselves of this imperial conces-
. But as it is. 13.22.6.11). ‘Why did you not lay down this law for yourself as well? If there is no gain to the pilgrim according to God for having gone there.21. See Eusebius. for such purposes as procuring abortion and sterility. Life of Constantine 3. why did you undertake such a vain journey yourself?’ 12.6. Again. Through that necessity in which I was appointed to live by him who disposes our life. 21. where even blood relatives attack each other like wild beasts for the sake of lifeless proﬁt (cf. what evidence is there that in those places grace abounds more? 11. Eusebius HE 10. indicates tension between the bishop and his clergy and between Cyril and himself. I promised that I would visit those who preside61 over the holy churches of Jerusalem. 62 Theodosius I.38. Let them therefore hear my defence in this matter. often along with magical practices. 59 farmake›ai. I received a charge from the holy council60 to go to those regions in order to undertake the correction of the church in Arabia. This last kind of evil especially is so entrenched that nowhere else are people so ready to murder each other as in those places. idolatries.59 envies (cf. In a letter to the Bishop of Syracuse he charges him to use a public vehicle (dhmÒsion ˆxhma) on the way to the Council of Arles in 314. His position as an emperor who sponsored orthodoxy scarcely had any role to play in the Council of Antioch (379). Gal 5. Mt 15.19. But I know the retort that many make to what I have said. Church History 1. He did not even enter Constantinople for the ﬁrst time until November 380. Constantine had already employed this expedient. because their aﬀairs were in turmoil and in need of a mediator. there is no form of uncleanness that is not brazened among them: fornications. 7. p. Marc. This detail concerning the Emperor more than anything else indicates that by ‘holy council’ Gregory means the council of 381. Maraval discusses the possible issues. thefts (cf. Cyril. Well then.8. Drugs were used. 61 Gregory is being purposefully vague in his terminology. Theodoret.20–21).23. 35.19–21. if grace were greater in the vicinity of Jerusalem than anywhere else. Rev 9. The fact that he does not name the bishop. The list of vices here may be compared with Mt 15.63 so that we did not have to endure
58 porne›ai with KP. where such things go on. Mk 7. murders. Then the most pious emperor62 provided for the easing of my journey by means of public carriage. 63 During preparations for the Nicene council in 325 the Emperor Constantine extended the use of public conveyance to Christian bishops. Gal 5.58 adulteries.6. Since Arabia borders on the region of Jerusalem. drugs. ponhr¤ai (evil deeds) in all other codices. 60 The Council of Constantinople in 381 is meant. They will say.120
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all the rest of the world! 10. Tit 1.19). sin would not be so entrenched among those who dwell there. corroborated by porne¤a in Cod.

Our faith was neither diminished nor increased. 18b. 15.24) wherever you are. that we came to know by comparison that our own places are far holier than those abroad. 185. i.43. praise him (Ps 21. if the abode of your soul is such that the Lord himself comes to dwell within you and walk with you (cf. all you who fear the Lord. while he sought to make the whole ritual conform to his own will. Jn 14. we believed in his resurrection from the dead—before we saw his memorial-rock. beloved. and we sang psalms and fasted in the Lord throughout the whole journey. Gregory refers it in particular to the class of ‘female monks’.23) in the places where you have your existence. rather than quit Cappadocia to be in Palestine. Ammianus Marcellinus. But if you have your inner man (Rom 7. specially the nuns. including the sisters. For we confessed that the Christ who was made manifest is true God both before we arrived in the place and afterwards. Accordingly. describes the situation in the reign of Constantius: ‘Since throngs of bishops hastened hither and thither on the public post-horses (iumentis publicis) to the various synods as they call them.8). though Emperors might manipulate it as they sought to dominate the Church.23.16) ﬁlled with base thoughts. No. he (Constantius) cut the sinews of the courier-service (rei vehiculariae)’.16). three vols. For its ongoing practice see Life of Constantine 4.
.65 Indeed the virgins ought to refrain
sion. in presenting a principle applicable to all monks.22.16. Ammianus Marcellinus 21. We beneﬁted only this much from our travelling there.18. Eph 3. let our counsel be all the more persuasive. 1950). it means members of the monastic brotherhood. 64 édelfo›w. For the changing of one‘s place does not bring about any greater nearness to God. you would be as far from receiving Christ in yourself as one who has not even begun to confess him. 17. God will come to you (cf. Therefore do not let our own case be a stumbling block to anyone. Therefore. In fact our carriage was as good as a church or monastery. counsel the brothers64 to quit the body to be with the Lord (2 Cor 5. 16. 14. Ex 20.the pasquali collection
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any of those necessities which we have remarked in the case of others. we confessed the truth of his ascension into heaven—without having seen the Mount of Olives. On the contrary. 2 Cor 6. 65 §jair°tvw tåw monazoÊsaw. because we counsel you on matters which we have ascertained with our own two eyes. John Rolfe (London: Heinemann. then even if you were present at Golgotha or on the Mount of Olives or by the memorial-rock of the Resurrection. 2. 18a. We knew that he was made man through the Virgin—before we saw Bethlehem.e. vol. tr.

when their excursions are required and it is necessary. vivid metaphor) and the prudence toward women ascetics are characteristically Gregory’s. But if the Spirit blows where He wills ( Jn 3. and at least one for guests. which almost assumed autonomous transmissions according to the particular ascetic circles in which they were found (e.69 18c. requested and it is necessary’. . ..
66 67
for«n (forums). But if anyone puts forward the utterance of the Lord to his disciples that they should not quit Jerusalem (cf. Heb 6. one for professed women. not according to the sojourn [of the gift] in Jerusalem. Pontus as against Cappadocia). and by the evident context of this Letter in which a male superior of a community has expressed to Gregory his misgivings over the consecrated virgins who wish to depart on pilgrimage. it would be right for all to remain in that place where that dispensing of the gift took place. let him understand the saying. 69 ‘specially with regard to the nuns .g. to lie coiled beside. In the light of the way that Basil continued to edit and augment his ascetic writings.e.122
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from public squares66 and all-night vigils. Acts 1. LR 15. 68 t∞w oﬁk¤aw. for I know the resourceful craftiness of that serpent who disseminates67 his poison even through useful practices. K. Now if what came to pass at the beginning when the Holy Spirit dispensed each of his gifts under the appearance of a ﬂame. i.6).8). Pasquali prefers the lectio diﬃcilior. Both the literary style (e. of which [i. . 19.e. It was because the grace and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit had not yet come upon the Apostles that our Lord charged them to remain in the one place (Acts 2. See especially Basil’s Asketikon. a little disturbed and probably involving dittography: . one of the several constituent ‘houses’ of the cenobitic community. 70 There follows a variant ending in K. §pidhm¤an (‘visit’) P. Virgins should stay behind walls on every side and go forth from their house68 only a few times in a year.4) according to the analogy of their faith (Rom 12. 71 épodÆmian. then those who have become believers here are also made partakers of that gift (cf.1) until they were clothed with power from on high (Lk 24. The genuineness of this passage is supported by the known composite nature of the ascetic communities under Basil and Peter’s inﬂuence. .
. it is possible that Gregory added the passage later in response to some particular circumstance.70 not according to their living abroad71 in Jerusalem. There was one for professed men.4). symmetrically balanced with énalog¤an in an antithesis.6–7. one or two for children. a subtle hint here also of paraspeirãomai. the Spirit] may all of us who have become partakers reach the kingdom of Heaven in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Gregory also uses the image of the serpent at 3.49)). to whom [plural genitive in Maraval] is the glory unto ages of ages. paraspe¤raw. interesting as a Latin loan-word.g. were continuing until now.

and not to a period after the Council of Antioch in 379. Gregory’s addressees are three women ascetics whom he had recently met in Jerusalem. Gretscher strove to refute Casaubon as well as Stepherns. NPNF ser. now complemented by Maraval’s. having made use of codex W. Gregory Nazianzen’s letter 244 is addressed to Basilissa.2. 19–27. The Migne text (i. 5. of the ﬁrst three Letters) was printed from this edition which is usually referred to as the Morelliana. 542–545. They seem to have found themselves strangers in their own community and are searching for a more spiritually viable setting in which to live. The letter ﬁrst reached print under Calvinist auspices as part of the polemic against pilgrimages (see introduction to letter 2). XLIX). after the proclamation of ‘piety’ (= Neo-nicene orthodoxy) through the whole world.25). conﬁrmed as it was by imperial authority. This can only refer to the Council of Constantinople in 381. W.
. If she is the same Basilissa as here. tr. In the year 1638 the royal printer Aegidius Morell reprinted the 1615 edition with a second set of revisions (iteratis curis). vol. Gregory urges them to be loyal to the memory and ministry of Basil and to himself as his successor. according to 3. 2. Stephens published a version in 1606 together with Letter 2. which means Caesarea of Cappadocia. Casaubon’s text was printed together with Gretscher’s commentary by Claude Morell in 1615. The ascetic circle in which these women move has been subject to the heavy pressure of Apollinarian doctrinaires. and warns them strongly and at length against the subtle attractions of sophisticated Apollinarian theologizings. Only that letter is full of moral sententiae.9. They were all rendered obsolete by Pasquali’s edition. Gregory wrote it after his return to the metropolis (3. R. not of theological concerns like the present letter. GNO 8. Letter 3 was written immediately after Gregory’s return to Cappadocia from his visit to Jerusalem.: Letter 17.the pasquali collection Letter 3 To Eustathia and Ambrosia and Basilissa72
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This letter has barely survived thanks entirely to one ancient manuscript. though not without many typographical errors.e. not without some spite. her two companions have disappeared from the scene for unknown reasons (death? staying behind in Palestine while Basilissa migrated north?) and Nazianzen’s letter might reasonably be dated later than the present letter. It is also testimony to the degree of closely reasoned doctrinal argument that that devout Christian women might be expected to command. Isaac Casaubon reedited it and reprinted it with extensive notes at Hanover in 1607 (Pasq. perhaps in the mid or late 380s.: W (the sole ancient codex on which the transmission of this Letter depends) Q (c). Maraval 124–147.
72 Mss. who also seems to be a young woman ascetic ﬁnding herself under necessity of moving about in the world. which took place.

What Gregory is saying. letter 3. those who have been interiorly ‘Christed’. 1): ‘that is. his account of human conception and the origin of the soul in On the Soul and Resurrection 9. Gregory is at pains to demonstrate the integrity of Christ’s human nature and his divine nature. Tit 3. is what he sees in them. were for me an occasion of the greatest joy and happiness. so Casaubon (NPNF ser. n. He commences a series of metaphors.124
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The Antiochene Word/Man Christology that appears in 3.79 2. called to-day the Holy Sepulchre. though he readily spiritualises the experience. My meeting with the good who are of like mind. of the Saviour. Since Gregory is hardly a propagandist for the spiritual beneﬁts conferred by pilgrimages. and that. ever so gently. 75 The similarity to the address of GNaz Letter 238. The festival according to God is revealed to me76 from either side: both when I see the saving tokens77 of the God who gave us life (cf. the true tokens of Christ’s presence are seen in deeply spiritual souls. perhaps the adjective is explicative (= ‘of that which saves’). Gal 4. However his brave attempts to account for the unity in Christ73 which are based on his anthropological ideas74 were not quite adequate in terms of looming Christological tensions and invited the deﬁnitions of the following century. If the term is genuine. he is pleased to note. the celebration of the saving events of the Lord’s passion. 542.
Gregory to our most discreet and pious sisters Eustathia and Ambrosia. in which the diﬀerent places connected with the Paschal events are but pointers to the interior realization of the mysteries of which they are an external witness.13–19 (Krabinger 120–122). 78 I.19).4). 79 Gregory’s attitude to visiting the holy places seems to this point more positive than in the previous letter. This Letter is transmitted also under the name of GNyssa in two mss. Cf. to the community at Sannabodae. the Church of the Resurrection. and to our most discreet and reverent daughter Basilissa. greetings in the Lord 75 1. may be remarked. Gal 5. vol. and the proofs displayed in your regions of our Master’s great loving kindness for us (cf.24) and become co-cruciﬁed with Christ (Gal
Cf. and that the one nature in no way not compromise the other. it is likely that Gregory means Pascha. death and resurrection that took place in Jerusalem. 76 Pasquali ﬁnds •ortÆ (festival) suspect. 19–20 and letter 32. who through godly fear has nailed the promptings of the ﬂesh (cf. Rom 4.11–24 has its context in the controversy with Apollinarians.
74
73
.15. is that though his addressees live at the holy sites. not things causing salvation’. For one in whom Christ has been formed through a good conscience (cf.17.e. 5.13) and when I meet with souls in whom such signs of the Lord’s grace are so spiritually discernible that one understands that Bethlehem and Golgotha and Olivet and the Anastasis78 are truly in the heart that possesses God. 1 Tim 6. 2. 77 tå svtÆria sÊmbola.

43. He incurred ﬂagrant hostility. For this reason. and is no longer weighed down by the burden of the body. I mean.8). mentioned’. Aﬀairs themselves proclaim the melancholy truth more loudly than any speech. but has lightened it through a purer life.20). I grew despondent on my journey back to my fatherland.4). 4. who is mindful of the things that are above where Christ is (Col 3. after the good cheer of these delights. having abandoned the material and earthbound life of human beings and mounted through sublime desire to the heavenly citizenship (cf. a derived sense. 1 Pet 1. Phaedrus 246C. for a human being to enjoy any good unmixed with bad.2) of this life’s delusion. is among those devoted ones82 in whom the reminders of the Master’s loving-kindness are seen. The lawgiver who is our Life has laid down for us but one enmity.83 what are we to think of other places where participation in the good has been sown merely by hearing and preaching (cf. and in Dion.
. katonamãzv in the passive = ‘named. 3. Phil 3. 83 This is a hint that Gregory’s mission of mediation in Jerusalem was a failure.19). Halicarnassos 1. Phaedrus 246c for the doctrine of anamnesis. and has come forth from the bodily tomb (cf. if not to say impossible.20). pondering the truth of the Lord‘s word where he says the whole world lies in evil ( Jn 5. What I have in mind by saying this does not have be set out more plainly in words. however. I was ﬁlled with a joy so great that it cannot be described in words (cf. building on Plato’s metevropore›n.7–8)? 5. so that the ﬂesh like a cloud treads on high with him80 the things that are above81—such a one. There is. Mt 28. So when I saw the holy places with the senses and saw too the signs of these places manifested in you.1 it means ‘devoted’ (to the gods). who has rolled away from himself the heavy stone (cf. such that no part of the inhabited world is free of its share of the worse. in my judgment. 82 katvnomasm°nvn. a word of Gregory’s coinage. and so may refer to the holy places listed above. In Philebus 5. For if the very spot that has received the holy footprint of the true Life is itself not cleared of evil thorns. 81 See Plato.8) to walk in newness of life (Rom 6. Mt 13. 6. that which is against
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22. so for me the taste of sweetness was mingled with some sense of bitter things too. according to which we make progress through recollection of the higher ‘forms’ seen with the mind’s eye before the body entrapped and confused us. and by extension ‘famous’.1 it means ‘betrothed’. 84. But since it seems to be diﬃcult.16 and Phalaris Ep.1–2). and even more than a failure. Mk 16.

charging us to deem the foe of our nature as our only enemy. from late in the reign of Constantine to the accession of Theodosius I (379).19) are devoutly gloriﬁed and paid homage by those who have believed that in the unconfused and distinct Holy Trinity there is one nature. 8.
84
. glory. buttressed by imperial authority. As long as the Only-begotten God ( Jn
I. Son and Holy Spirit (Mt 28. Ps 4. then what good reason for warfare can there be? 9. in its varied shades. But now when piety is openly proclaimed in the same way through the whole world from one end of heaven to the other thereof (Ps 18. indicating the versatility of vice by the intricate pattern of its scales.126
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the serpent. and I think not only against ourselves. Since vice is a complex and many-faceted thing. it was well to brave the authorities through whom the teaching of our adversaries was seemingly strengthened. except that of repelling vice. For I will establish enmity. he says. Gen 3.3) has sundered us from our neighbour and made us welcome the serpent and be dazzled by the bright markings of his scales. between you and him (cf. For he says. and that such a hatred pleases the Master.6). While the teachings of the heresy84 prevailed. whether the Jews or those who are manifestly idolaters or those who through Arius’ teachings make an idol of the creature.18)? 10. in order that the saving Word might not be over-ruled by human rulers. promoted for the most part by the eastern Emperors. But this gross-hearted generation (cf. 7. and declaring that all who share that nature are the neighbours to each other. What other goal should he have who has a zeal for God than to announce the glory of God in every way (cf.e Arianism.85 whoever makes war against those who proclaim piety. pious worship and authority over all. But when we enacted the behests of our adversary we became the allies of the serpent. and so take up again the Jewish error. not to the earlier more provincial council of Antioch (379). but against him who gave the commandment. By enemies I mean those who in every way deny the glory of the Master. Phil 1. and so we turned the hatred against one another. 85 This must refer to the Council of 381. ﬁghts not them but him whom they piously proclaim. But if Father. For no other end has he commanded us to exercise this power of hatred.43). power. You shall love your neighbour and hate your enemy (Mt 5. I for my part maintain that to hate the enemies of God is lawful. the Word hints at this through the serpent.15). kingship.

he who
86 Quite clearly Gregory was repudiated by a party of theological opinion in Jerusalem. just. it was not overshadowed by the darkness. Jn 19.4–5. Take the sun as an example. Let them even be allowed to have a little more as to knowledge. how the divine immutability was preserved in the Incarnation. both changeless and unalterable and always the same. He who is perceived in all the perfection of the good is unalterable in any form of change. Mt 22.89 and during it. Instead.37) and is believed to be in all things what the Father is. It does not join in the alterability of the lowly nature when through dispensation it comes to be there. He was always so. who tear the seamless robe (cf. than they think they have grasped:87 yet can they have more than to believe that the true Son of God is true God?88 12. powerful. both copies Q and c insert alternative expressions here. it does not dim the brightness of its rays. For what can be higher than the highest. and after it.5). but illumined the gloom with itself. It was not that he showed himself as such on certain occasions.18) is paid homage with all the heart and soul and mind (cf. they have neither known nor understood. they walk about in darkness (Ps 81. 88 Thus the point at issue concerns Christology and. for divine plan of salvation implemented in the Incarnation.the pasquali collection
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1. what plausible excuse for ﬁghting do these hyper-sophistic controversialists have. 9). through its rays it transforms the darkness into light.
. What is incorruptible and unalterable by nature is always so. what can be still have more good than the good? 13. when the true Light shone in our darkness (cf. In all his activities on our behalf nothing of that changeless and unalterable nature was adapted to what was incongruent with it. 1 Cor 1. especially in Gregory.12) and keep aloof from contact with those who pay homage to Christ as from something loathsome? They all but shout openly in so many words: Away from me! Do not come near me. for I am pure (Is 65.5). 89 prÚ t∞w katå ênyrvpon oﬁkonom¤aw. For in the confession of the true God all pious and saving conceptions are included: that he is good. because the ﬁrst is not his nature and the second he does not have in him. So also. Since our humanity was in darkness as it is written.86 11. and the Holy Spirit likewise is gloriﬁed with a homage of equal honour. incapable of changing to worse or to the better. 87 The text is corrupt. 14. both before the dispensation as man. 15. When it sends down its rays into the lower realm. as we shall see.23) and divide the Lord’s name between Paul and Cephas (cf. Jn 1. ‘Economy’ or ‘Dispensation’ is a regular term.

The saying that he increased in stature and in wisdom and in favour is recorded in Scripture (Lk 2. ‘Le vocabulaire de l’union et du rapport des natures chez saint Grégoire de Nysse’.95 18. Just as disease and disablement94 are not congenital to us from the beginning. and suppose that our human nature that was in Christ was transformed into something more divine by a kind of progress and sequence. mutilation. deformity. an attempt not always successful in terms of later Christological precision. énakrãsei. and brought it to completion in himself by that blend91 which he himself is. though it had come to be in a corruptible body. Let no one therefore take the Gospel saying in an undue sense. except the tendency to sin.92 16. so the disposition towards vice is to be considered a disabling of the good that is in us by nature and is not to be understood to have subsistence of itself. Plotinus.32) in order to prove that the Lord truly came to be in our composition. Apollinarism taught a truncated humanity in which the Word replaced the functions of the human higher soul. Therefore he who reconﬁgured the
90 91
toË sugkr¤matow ≤m«n. 92 Cf.93 and to leave no room for those who teach that there was a kind of phantasm cloaking itself in bodily form. increase in bodily stature. And inasmuch as the deity is incorruptible. 93 t“ ≤met°rƒ furamãti. does not himself become infected. Revue Thomiste 68 (1968).90 through soul I say and body too.128
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shone in our darkened nature dispersed the ray of his divinity through our whole compound. weariness. disability. in touching the patient. or ‘mixture’. See JeanRené Bouchet.21. 94 É± pÆrvsiw. 171. 95 Gregory shared with Origen. but come about contrary to nature. It is for this reason that the Scripture also unashamedly reports of him all the marks of our nature: eating.1. so it was not altered by any change even as it healed what was changeable in our soul. In the following century anakrasis was judged as an inadequate term
for expressing the character of Christ’s unity. sleeping. he who is treating bodily ills. just as in the art of medicine. 533–582. the Platonic tradition generally and
. Against Apollinaris GNO 3. drinking. nurture. Gregory is about to attempt his own account of the union of the divine and the human in the conception of Christ. but thoroughly heals that which is diseased. rather than a true Theophany. But sin anyway is a miscarriage of our nature and not one of its properties. 17. growing up—all that characterizes our nature. but is seen in the absence of the good. and so accommodated our entire humanity to his own light. By this term Gregory means that the integrity of human nature in its elements was assumed by the Lord. maiming.

Using an Antiochene Word/Man Christology rather than the Word/Flesh Christology of Alexandria. no guile was found in his mouth (1 Pet 2. ‘made to congeal’. 97 §g°neto. if indeed a human being. Seeing that the power of the deity is something inﬁnite and immeasurable. The meaning virtually equates to a use of §g°nneto above. whatever it was in its constitution. 96 tØn fÊsin ≤m«n prÚw tØn ye¤an dÊnamin metastoixei≈saw.7). lit. The terms of the hypostatic union were not hammered out till the period between the Council of Ephesus (431) and the Council of Chalcedon (451). yet Spirit nonetheless. and it cannot be tested as a possible (and very easy) scribal error. its domain is that of created human choices. by the coming upon her of the Holy Spirit and the overshadowing of the power of the Most High (Lk 1. 19. in whom Wisdom built her own house (Prov 9. the less is blessed by the greater.35). i. Gregory uses metastoix°v and metapoi°v (here translated as ‘transform’) interchangeably. Gregory strives.1). however. and at the same time. Compare Gregory’s Christology in letter 32. 7). our human nature as it was assumed at the moment of Christ’s conception. 99 Christological statements such as here and in Against Apollinaris (to Theophilos
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elements96 of our nature by his divine power preserved it in himself free of disablement and disease. qualiﬁed by an iterated eÈyÁw (‘immediately’). 2 Cor 4. ‘being’ and ‘value’ tended to be identiﬁed. See also Against Apollinaris 8 (GNO 3. and wishing to safeguard the integrity of Christ’s humanity against Apollinaris and against various types of docetism. not admitting the disablement worked by sin in the will.11–12 and Homily 5 on Eccl. See Catechetical Oration 5. and it was a divine hypostasis. Instead.223–224). while that which is human is slight and of no account. according to which the human being conceived in the womb of Mary never ‘became’ divine even instantaneously as Gregory argues here.8. 98 phgnÊmenon. A better choice of verb might have been §g°nneto (begotten) but there is only one manuscript. the distinct new human zygote. Its hypostasis preceded and accompanied the human conception. But this that we see in him did not exist after any interval of time: for immediately the human being within Mary. GNO 5. at the same time that the Spirit came upon the Virgin and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. the unfortunate term is. It is no wonder that some of his Christological formulations were later considered favourable to Nestorianism. was by its own nature of our passible composition. negational character. unsuccessfully in terms of later deﬁnitions.e. the tabernacle formed98 by such an impulse did not draw along with it anything of human decay.99
Augustine what Meredith calls a ‘metaphysical optimism’ (Gregory of Nyssa. and Grace and Power. That which is proper to our nature was illumined by the superabundance of the divine power (cf. in our terms. 20.15. in which the ‘good’ and reality. it says. to account for the operations of Christ’s divine and human natures at the moment of conception in Mary’s womb. For he committed no sin.22). so it remained. Consequently evil has at best a relative. immediately became97 that which the overshadowing was by its own nature—for indisputably.

Cf. 100 énakraye›sa. 102 §gkraye›sa.19). Therefore what we understand concerning the end we reckon also for the beginning. which express ‘fusion’.6.2. katam¤gnumi. that he might raise the prostrate suﬀerer in both. but while by means of the soul it was in Paradise preparing an entrance for all human beings in the person of the Thief (cf. 1 Pet 3. For the beginning was not as our beginning or the end as our end. see Bouchet 1968. always
3. 544. 2. Now when we cry aloud these things and bear witness that Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor 1. Inasmuch as there are two boundaries of human life: the one where we begin and the one where we ﬁnish.21. St Cyril of Alexandria ‘showed that these expressions were capable of a Catholic interpretation. but he showed in the one and in the other his divine power: the beginning not being deﬁled by pleasure. Mt 12. Gregory Nazianzen’s use of sugkrãsei in Letter 101. but at the Council of Ephesus.265) and Catechetical Discourse 10 were later claimed by Eutychians. the human soul of Christ in possessing which he shared fully in our nature. 23. and came also to be mingled104 with the body. or the end resulting in corruption. 13) on account of the inherent deity—so also at the beginning. 547. 104 katam¤gnutai. Mt 4.24). 101 t“ Ípokeim°nƒ. yet the indivisible deity which had been blended100 once for all with the subject101 was not sundered either from that body or from that soul. we reckon that the power of the Most High. it remained by means of the body in the heart of the earth (cf. 22. came to be both in our soul. Perhaps ‘receptacle’ might yield a slightly less controversial sense. 1).130
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21.e. §grerãnnumi. so that our salvation might be wholly perfect in all respects. Lk 23. destroying him that had the power of Death—which is why even his body is called the Lord (Mt 28.103 since it was ﬁtting that it should come to be in the soul. while that heavenly and God-beﬁtting passionlessness was nonetheless preserved both at the beginning of his human life and at its end. it was necessary that he who cures our whole life (cf.40). For just as there he caused the body to be unyoked from the soul in accord with the dispensation. distinctly anti-Apollinarian. Jn 20.
. On the terms used in this passage: énakerãnnumi. n.43.23) enfold us at both these extremities and grasp both our beginning and our end. and pardonable in discussing the diﬃcult and mysterious question of the union of the two natures’ (NPNF ser. 103 I. ‘blending’ and ‘mixing’. coalescing102 with our entire nature through the coming upon of the Holy Spirit.

who. though coming in the changeable and the corruptible. Letter 263. Gregory Nazianzen. as if we profaned their holy things (Lev 19. Jn 16. Yet it was not Nestorius. PG 37. Gal 6. 109 Presumably this is Caesarea in Cappadocia. but Theodore of Mopsuestia who called Mary ényrvpotÒkon (PG 37. lest they vaunt over you.the pasquali collection
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changeless. is himself undeﬁled. Only remember the holy Fathers. 22. wherever the Holy Spirit shall direct you (cf. go with him. 4. 193A. 266. imagining it rebuilt with stones of a more brilliant material?108 Is any such charge brought against us that we should be reckoned as something to be shunned. For your part. Def. Lietzmann.88–101 at 98–99.3 ‘the metropolis of the Cappadocians’.6–9)? Have any of us dared to call ‘man-bearer’ the holy Virgin the Godbearer106—which is what we hear that some of them recklessly allege? Do we make up myths about three Resurrections?107 Do we promise the gluttony of the Millennium? Do we assert that Jewish animalsacriﬁces shall be restored again? Do we lower men’s hopes to the Jerusalem below. Basil.88–101 at 96–99. Def. cf. into whose hands you were commended
105 For the Apollinarian ideas that follow here see H. 250 AD) accorded the Virgin Mary the title Theotokos. Basil. Num 18. Oration 51: ‘If anyone does not call Mary Theotokos. do not confer with ﬂesh and blood (Gal 1. what unrighteousness have we committed and why are we hated? And what is the meaning of this competing array of new altars? 24. 1 Cor 3. Do we announce another Jesus (2 Cor 11.13–14). §tÒlmhs° tiw ≤m«n ka‹ ényrvpotÒkon eﬁpe›n. 1904. 4. always incorruptible.21. and cleansing what is deﬁled. to the Westerners. Ps 72.15. inﬂating their vainglory through your life (cf.. 26. Apollinaris von Laodicea und seine Schule. GNaz Letter 101.21) at these things. Tübingen. and 14. 1560C). and that in some places another altar should be erected in opposition to us.4)?105 Do we even hint at another? Do we bring forth other scriptures (cf. I am eager to unburden my soul of its bitterness by writing to your love. 2 Cor 11.4). which from the time of Dionysius’ letter to Paul of Samosata (c.3 where ‘Cappadocia‘ seems to mean Caesarea. as part of his polemic against the Christians. My heart burns with indignation and grief (cf.32 etc. walk behind God (Deut 13.193A). Letter 263.16).8.)? 25.
. Gal 1. Cf. he is outside ‘deity’. Gregory reports an Apollinarian accusation against him.13).12. and now that I have set foot in the metropolis109 again.’ 107 Cf. that he espouses an Antiochene (construed by some as a proto-Nestorian) Christology. anticipated it seems by Diodorus of Tarsus (PG 33. Provide no-one with an occasion for vaunting. 11. 108 Such a project had been mooted under Emperor Julian (361–363). By invoking this term Gregory allies himself with the Alexandrian tradition of Christology. 106 mØ tØn ég¤an pary°non tØn yeotÒkon.17ﬀ.

Lettres 147 n.28) or think less of the plainness of our simpler proclamation (cf. a ﬁrm Catholic who participated in the Council of Constantinople in 381. Do not remove the boundaries which your fathers established (Prov 22. On the day of Christ’s birth (25 December 386). 527–528.132
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by your blessed Father. In his assessment. 25) as distinct from Epiphany ( Jan 6). vol.20) will be with you. Mossay. Letter 4 To Eusebius111
The identity of the addressee of this letter has been doubtful.16).9). and the Homily on Pascha restored to Gregory by P. and ‘Retour sur quelque dates’. p. 259). ed. Maraval.: GNO 8.: PFV. The disunity was heightened by the fact that Palestine was the melting pot of pilgrims and settlers from all over the Christian world. The letter is very important evidence of the institution in the Christian East of a feast of the Nativity (Dec. as described by Sozomen 4. Nautin (387). May the Lord preserve you strong in mind and body uncorrupted (cf.21) or attribute more to their subtle teachings (cf. Maraval however114 regards the identity of the addressee as uncertain. NPNF ser. 115 See Daniélou. Sometimes it is precisely the advanced age even of dignitaries that invites freer expressions of endearment. n. and the God of peace (Heb 13. tr.115
110 After the exile of Cyril of Jerusalem Basil had been called upon to deal with the spread of Apollinarianism among the monks and nuns of Palestine (Letters 258. Heb 13. the absence of honoriﬁcs seems against his being a bishop. Daniélou113 on the other hand maintained that we have here the same Eusebius mentioned in Against Fate.25. vol. which it has been suggested introduced in Cappadocia in the late 370s–380s. 366. p. and in whose turn to Christianity Gregory had had a part to play. but there had been an interlude of Arian rule. That objection may be countered.24) is our prayer for you. Eph 6. a leading pagan at Constantinople whom Gregory met during his long stay there in 386. 114 Lettres. and to whom we by God’s grace were deemed worthy to succeed. 146. 5. 1 Cor 1. 113 Chronologie des Sermons. moreover. the Bishop of Chalcis in Coele-Syria.: Letter 1. and. 27–30. 527). it would be surprising if a man so characterized for dignity and age as Eusebius of Constantinople should be called ‘dear head’. the name Eusebius being a very common one. 368. 154.2. 2. 2. and especially J. ‘La Chronologie’.110 Walk by the ancient rule of the Faith (cf. Les fêtes de Noël et d’Epiphanie d’apres
. Daniélou dated the letter to Easter 387 given his identiﬁcation of Eusebius and a number of common themes between this letter and several works written about that time: On Fate (386). Gal 6. Cyril returned in 382. 112 NPNF 2nd ser. 5. 111 Mss. 1. 366. According to Moore112 he is Eusebius.

Letter 87 ToTheodore of Tyana. Such associations of time and eternity were facilitated by the gradual de-paganization and Christianization of civil time throughout the 4th century.119
les sources littéraires cappadociennes du IV e siecle (Louvain. On the custom amongst Eastern Christians of exchanging presents at the great festivals. culminating in the reform of the calendar under Theodosius I (AD 379–395). 6. sent to his brother Peter. addressed to Gregory’s brother Peter. so that night and day measure an equal interval against each other. we keep the feast of the Theophany of the true Light117 who shone through the ﬂesh upon human life. we thought it right not to leave you without the homage118 of our gifts. and Gregory Nazianzen.
. 118 ég°raston. What then does the premise of my letter mean? Since it is our custom in these public holy festivals to manifest in every way the aﬀections in our hearts. toË aÈtoË P. appears in On the Nativity. cf. And the oﬀering we bring to you through this letter is the letter itself. But now when the luminary has in his cycle already reached mid-heaven. and in GNaz Letter 54 To Helladius. but to salute your lofty and high-minded soul with the scanty oﬀerings of our poverty. It is an early and outstanding example of meditation on the connections between the liturgy and the natural cycle of the year and the application of these reﬂections to the moral life. the return of human nature from death to life becomes for us the theme of this great and universal festival. suggesting the age and dignity of the addressee. the Nativity (25 December) rather than Epiphany (6 Jan). the introduction to On the Making of Man. 116 toË aÈtoË eÈsebiv F. see his Homily on the generation of Christ PG 31 1457A–1475A. toË èg¤ou grhgor¤ou toË nÊsshw prow eÈs°bion V. p. On the making of man. 119 Other examples of exchanging literary gifts at the great festivals may be found in the opening verses of GNyssa. while his homily on Epiphany. which the whole life of those who have welcomed the mystery of the Resurrection joins in celebrating at the same time. 2. On the Day of Lights is taken up with the imagery of Baptism. 1965). during whose reign this letter was written. and there are some who express their good cheer by oﬀering presents of their own.the pasquali collection
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Gregory elucidates doctrinal signiﬁcances from the celebration of Christmas at the winter solstice and the celebration of Pascha at the Spring equinox.
To Eusebius116 1. The same theme of the turning of the light and it gradual increase till the victory of Easter. When during the winter the day‘s span begins to lengthen as the sun turns again on his upward course. letter 54 to Helladius and letter 87 to Theodore of Tyana. 3. Basil himself may have been the initiator.e. 117 I.

it is well illustrated in the art of the period. 151 n. 121 Gregory explains at length how the incarnation displays both God’s power and his goodness in Catechetical Discourse 24 (Maraval. that neither in the creation of the world was the power found weaker than the intention.120 4. who is not contained even by all that exists.19) restores man to life?122 By brieﬂy expounding this in a discourse as best I can. but when the day is equally proportioned he who had returned to the earth through sin (cf. but indeed came to be in that state. and the darkness begins to diminish as the length of the day increases through successive additions. Maraval remarks (Lettres 149 n. but himself circumscribes the whole and dwells in the smallest thing. was he powerless to do so. The mysteries of Christ are contemporary events. Lettres. Since there is some reason for the two seasons. Gen 3. 1). though without leaving the universe ungoverned? 5. Surely you in your wisdom have guessed the mystery hinted at in these coincidences: that the advance of night is cut oﬀ by the access of the light. inasmuch as they are communicated even now through the sacraments and the liturgy. Gregory means the economy of salvation commemorated in the annual Christmas–Easter liturgical cycle. that this letter might be thought a gift in literary circles. signiﬁed by being protected in the napkin. 122 The present tense may be noted. By ‘mystical gold’. and has shown its hidden lustre. which is wrapped up in the faith of Christians as in a kind of envelope. I shall make my letter a present to you. be my present to you—that it is. a linen napkin. when it has been unwrapped in these lines as far as it may. This much may
120 oÂon tini épodesm“. may the mystical gold.
. The practice continued in the late ancient and Byzantine world with the added idea of presenting gifts to God or to Emperors puriﬁed of mundane usage. Instead. 3) that in ancient Rome. guests used to bring presents wrapped in a mappa. nor when he determined to stoop down to the lowliness of our nature for the beneﬁt of human beings. Why is it only when the night has advanced to its further limit and the nocturnal increase admits no further addition. that he appears to us in ﬂesh— he who holds all in his hands and holds all things in his sway by his own power. 6.134
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Here is no discourse wreathed with melliﬂuous and well-constructed phrases. why does he appear in the ﬂesh at that time. and whose power at the same time so coextends with his beneﬁcent will121 and so shows itself wherever his will inclines. We must then go back to our introduction.

125 Mss. dear head. it shows her facing the sun’s rays. poor as it is in discourse. i.: Letter 2. When she takes the place of the setting sun. Letter 5 To those who discredit his orthodoxy125
The most satisfactory setting of this letter would appear to be the events reported in letter 19. ed. she herself does not set before she mingles her own with the true rays of the sun.the pasquali collection
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perhaps be evident even to the many. vice grappling with the good in an equal match. 124 Macrina/Gregory discourse at great length on the movements of the moon in relation to the Sun. puriﬁed as much as possible.2. and may your whole life be a festival and great day. the gloom of idolatry being consumed by the superabundance of the day. uninterrupted by any interval of darkness.: V N. the events of the Incarnation and Paschal redemption. This was in order that the illumined life might extended to the greatest degree by growing through increments of the good.e.124 10. as a gift from our hand. while the life of vice is diminished to the smallest degree through gradual attenuations—for the growth of the good amounts to the same thing as the lessening of the bad. from nightly gloom.
123
. 7. 9. 31–34. Therefore the season in which our mystery has its beginning is itself an interpretation of the dispensation123 on behalf of our souls. when the course of the moon has reached the fourteenth day. ﬁlled with all the richness of his brilliance. For when vice was already poured forth without bounds.11–16. 8. but rather the illumined life shall prevail. NPNF ser.19. in On the Soul and the Resurrection 2. Pasquali considered that this letter. For this reason also. Maraval 154–162. But the occurrence of the feast of the Resurrection at the equinox oﬀers in itself this interpretation. Rom 13. tr.12). with its brief
t∞w Èp¢r t«n cux«n oﬁkonom¤aw. so that there remains one light continuously through the whole course of day and night. not permitting any alternation of darkness to appear in any part. We oﬀer these reﬂections to you. we needed the day made bright for us with virtues by him who infused so great a light in our souls.: GNO 8. that the darkness is closely related to sin—indeed this is how vice is named in the Scripture (cf. that we shall no more contend in equally opposed ranks. Jn 3.

163. when in letter 265 he asks nothing more of them than that they should repudiate their former opinions before being admitted to communion. These doctrinaires were especially suspicious of assimilation to Sabellianism (4. In 5. 5.9 are transliterated and italicised. Because precision is at a premium in these doctrinal deﬁnitions. He thought that the letter may have been called forth by the trouble fomented against Gregory by those coming from the region of Galatia (letter 19. p. Where N does come into its own is in clarifying the argument of 5a. i.5b–7. he says. Such opponents appear to be of the Pneumatomachian party. It sometimes oﬀers superior grammar to V in many minor details.5 and 5.2) on the part of supporters of the homoousios. because. Maraval126 however. 126 Lettres. n. before the doctrinal settlement of the Council of Constantinople in 381. vol.e. We do at any rate seem to be in a period before the council of 381. Eustathius. Gregory’s brother. In this he is following Basil’s oikonomia in reconciling ‘Sabellians’ or those of Marcellus’ party. 3. the major terms in 5. These friends wish to disarm those who are hostile to Gregory’s doctrinal position. followers of the deceased bishop of Sebasteia. most should be perfectly familiar to English-speakers versed in Church doctrine. 528–529.2 we have the most important evidence that Gregory received a commission from the orthodox bishops of the East (= the Neo-nicene Council of Antioch in 379) to reconcile to Catholic communion the old Nicenes associated with Marcellus of Ancyra. It seemed to him to have been written in the interval between the death of Eustathius Bishop of Sebasteia and the election of Peter. In answer to this it might be said that while Gregory’s exposition of faith here is even-handed with regard to all the persons of the Trinity. Gregory is writing in the year 380 at the request of his supporters in Sebasteia. Maraval collated N. the same circle who sent an embassy to Ibora to sue for his presence at the synod soon to be convened to elect the metropolitan bishop of Armenia Minor. and morbidly sensitive to any innovation in statements concerning the Holy Spirit. Yet here Gregory is at pains to emphasize the deﬁnition of hypostasis that was a cornerstone of the Neo-nicene position and that had been perversely ignored by Eustathius and his followers. set aside by Pasquali. the divinity of the Holy Spirit is clearly aﬃrmed at 5.136
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exposition of the faith.11). Gregory contrives here to expound a full Neo-nicene faith without ever mentioning the homoousios. was composed for a synod of bishops convened either in Neocaesarea or in Sebasteia. Gregory is not particularly insisting on the divinity of the Holy Spirit. which will be noted here.
.
2. In this scenario. or indeed the term ousia at all. thinks the objectors are more likely to be classic Arians/Homoians.

n. 15a. the ‘Marcellians’ were fading from the theological scene. aÈtoË p¤stei parå t«n (his orthodox faith. but we did everything only after our orthodox <brothers>130 and fellow ministers in the East had entrusted to us the consideration of the case of these persons and had approved the actions to be taken. that in addition to his previous apologia. Maraval’s simpliﬁcation of Pasquali’s phrase.the pasquali collection
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Letter to those who discredit his orthodoxy. which in his view. 1b. 130 lacuna as ﬁlled by Pasquali. That the lie might not prevail against the truth. Cf.5).128 In this we aﬃrmed before the Lord that we had neither departed from the faith of the holy fathers nor had we done anything without discernment and examination in the case of those who came over from the assembly of Marcellus129 to the ecclesiastical communion. Maraval suggest ‘bishops’. toË §n èg¤oiw patrÚw ±m«n grhgor¤ou §piskÒpou nÊshw §pistolØ tª Ùryodoj (unsure) katå sebãst(eian) aﬁthy(e›sa) V. 131 The council of Neo-nicenes at Antioch in 379 is meant. t∞ Ùryodoj¤& to›w. again some of the brothers of one mind with us begged that there come privately132
127 A translation of the inscription in V as qualiﬁed by Maraval.1. Mt 12. But though Marcellus formally condemned Sabellius. was merely an operational faculty of God. by) added by Pasquali. Vie de Sainte Macrine. ch. Gregory make a separate statement of his doctrinal positions. But though we had made that written defence. he did not accord any real subsistence to the Logos. where he defends himself against just such charges as he has mentioned. i. and initially had the support of St Athanasius. 129 Marcellus of Ancyra was a signatory to the Nicene council of 325. 2.e. 3) asks whether this document may have been preserved as the To Eustathius (GNO 3. 132 ﬁd¤vw. who have no fear of the great and terrible judgment-seat of him who has promised that in that examination of our life we must all expect that an account will be required even of idle words (cf. and that without discernment and examination we received into the communion of the Catholic Church those who formerly assembled at Ancyra under the name of Marcellus.6) and slander their neighbour in secret (Ps 100. we put forward in another letter a suﬃcient defence against the charges made against us. requested by those in Sebasteia127 1a.1/3–16). Some brothers of one mind with us told us of the defamation aimed against us by those who hate peace (Ps 119.131 3. the Life of Macrina (GNO 17.36). Maraval. 128 Maraval (157.
. Athanasius withdrew his support from 345. They say that the charges being spread about against us are such as these: that we maintain views opposed to those who set forth the right and sound faith at Nicaea. §pistolØ toË §n ég¤oiw prw ±m«n grhgÒriou §piskÒpou nÊsshw prÚw flãianÚn §p¤skopon (Epistle of Bishop Gregory our father among the saints to Flavian) N. At the time of Gregory’s writing. 190–192).

baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit (Mt 28. For this reason we place all our hope and the assurance of the salvation of our souls in the three hypostases acknowledged by these names. and in the only-begotten Son of the Father ( Jn 3. nor is the grace of the Resurrection perfected by the Father138 and the Son if the Spirit139 is omitted. Now the Lord’s doctrine is this: Go. 137 * * * pni N. V has xvr‹w pneÊmati (without the Spirit). 7f–h. Scripture and Tradition. 4. he said. 47–48.140 5c.138
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in our own utterance an exposition of the faith in which is our full conviction. Here N has xvr‹w *p*r*w. 135 mustÆrion. nor does the perfection of life come through the Father and the Spirit in baptism if the Son is passed over in silence. pneÊmati V.14. Therefore.e. See letter 33.
tÚ t∞w eÈsebe¤aw mustÆr¤on. 138 patr‹ N. since the power that gives life to those who are reborn from death to eternal life comes from the Holy Trinity upon those who are deemed worthy of the grace through faith. patr‹ V. 139 * * * pnw N. 18) who is the Author of life.133 We therefore deemed it necessary also to treat brieﬂy these topics. 5.2). 2. All saving acts are accomplished by the whole Trinity.1. make disciples of all the nations. To Ablabius that there are not three gods GNO 3. and we believe in the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ (1 Pet 1.3) who is the fountain of life (cf.6g. ‘piety’ = orthodox faith and worship. the liturgy of the sacrament. 5a. Ps 35. patrÚw V.10). not by individual hypostases separately as the Arians argued. Acts 19. As frequently in Gregory. for the mystery135 of rebirth is neither perfected without the Father136 by the Son and the Spirit137 alone. and likewise the grace is imperfect if any of the names of the Holy Trinity are omitted in saving baptism (cf. 140 Gregory aﬃrms the important principle that all the persons of the Trinity are engaged in the same work of salvation.
. 331–336 at 334). following as we do the God-inspired utterances and the tradition of the Fathers. 8d.13.19). i. as
133 134
I. 136 Maraval derives a satisfactory text of 5a through N. and we do not believe there is anything else surer or more sublime than that tradition. 50 (NPNF ser.e. It is the classic derivation of orthodox doctrine from the apostolic tradition of prayer and liturgy.2–3)—5b. he accepted Vittelo’s amendments to make a concluding sense of the whole: ‘in the Spirit and the Son if the Father be omitted’. 2 vol. Because Pasquali relied upon V which presents a defective sequence of the three persons in 5a. We confess that the doctrine of the Lord which he gave to his disciples when he delivered to them the mystery of piety134 is the foundation and root of right and sound faith (Tit 1.

145 nor fall away into polytheism. 8. issuing through the Son. says that the Son or the Holy Spirit came into being from things that are not.19)—these in our judgment are of the same mind with us. it is the Spirit who gives life ( Jn 6.8). Son and Holy Spirit (Mt 28. taking its source in the God of all. 145 I. and thus neither set aside the sovereignty of the monarchy. 7. And since the grace of incorruptibility is bestowed on us who are redeemed from death through faith in Father and Son and Holy Spirit in saving baptism.24). one principle. Letter 159.141 6. nothing created.2. and we believe as we are baptized. let him be anathema. Phil 3. passive participle: the communication of the ‘life’ coming from God through the Son is accomplished by the Holy Spirit. it follows that. and eﬀected142 in the Holy Spirit. cf. ‘the Lord. But as many as walk by the rule of truth (cf. placing all their hope of salvation (1 Thess 5.16. our faith. 146 The allusion is to Jesus’ response to Peter’s refusal to be washed by him. nor synthesize the Holy Trinity from heterogeneous and dissimilar elements. 9.40). 1 Cor 15. 143 Gregory is echoing Basil’s formulations. we are baptized as we were commanded. the giver of life’. we believe that nothing servile.146
141 Thus Scripture describes each of the persons as the source of the one same life from God. and we glorify as we believe. as we have said.144 one authority and power (cf. Gal 6. believe in and worship the Trinity as handed down by the Lord. and in the Holy Spirit of God. 144 m¤an érxØn.the pasquali collection
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the Apostle says (Acts 3. and so also with those of like mind/faith. Having this full assurance.8) in Father.19).143 so that our baptism. Jn 13. Son and Holy Spirit (Mt. let him be anathema. guided by these. one goodness. because the life which comes to us through faith in the Holy Trinity is one. with whom we also pray to have part in the Lord (cf. in the Constantinopolitan additions to the Nicene Creed. but receive in simplicity the dogma of the faith.
. 28. But if anyone speaks of two or three gods or of three deities.16) and piously acknowledge the three hypostases in their distinct properties. shall we have ‘part’ in him. And if anyone. and believe that there is one Godhead.e. 142 §nergoÊmenh. and our doxology echo in one accord: Father. nothing unworthy of the majesty of the Father is to be numbered together with him in the Holy Trinity. nor confuse the hypostases.15). following Arius’ perversion. the Father as the érxh. concerning whom the Lord said. The meaning is that only if we are baptized into. the fons et origo of the Trinity. principle. therefore.

10). To Ablabius the Bishop and the introductory note. on Gregory’s return to Nyssa after his exile.6.
149 khlÒsina tÚ x≈rion P. since we were sent forth by your prayers. prÚw ÉAblãb¤on §p¤skopon P. 2. NPNF ser. But the exceptional exuberance both of joy and of tears demonstrated here seems to reﬂect the longest and most painful absence of his exile from 376 to 378. tr. The letter might well be dated to mid 378. vol. 5. Whatever Gregory’s failures as a Church politician on the grand scene. The letter also contains the precious testimony that there was a monastic community in Nyssa.: PFV. as might be expected.: Letter 3. Gregory Nazianzen’s letter 233 and Libanius’ letters 839.: GNO 8. There were other more or less lengthy absences from his see over the years due to his attendances at councils and his missions on behalf of the greater church. 34–36.
. toË autoË éblab¤v
F. §arsoË V.140
the pasquali collection Letter 6 To Bishop Ablabius147
That the inscription rightly accords the term bishop to the addressee is conﬁrmed at 6. 5. 935 appear to be written to another Ablabius than the one here. 2. missing in V. NPNF ser. letter 21.2. 9).
To Bishop Ablabius148 1. this letter is a wonderful testimony to his lovability as a bishop and pastor among the ordinary people of his ﬂock (6. ¥liow ∏n énå tÚ x≈rion V. Gregory also wrote the small treatise-letter That there are not three gods to a certain Ablabius. It is also possible that this letter describes his return to Nyssa after his enforced sojourn at Sebasteia early in 380. Tr. such as his journey to Arabia in 381. Indeed I will recount to you clear evidence of God’s favour. 529–530. He writes as if he has just enjoyed Ablabius’ hospitality during his return journey (6.11 by Gregory’s use of the address ‘your holiness’.
ÉAblab¤ƒ §piskÒpƒ Pasquali.: ‘For when the sun was just over the spot which we left behind Earsus’. Cf. 529A. 150 •aut«n PF. ed. though it is uncertain whether the Ablabius here can be identiﬁed with the sophist Ablabius there. See the sections from Was Gregory Married? to Early Years as Bishop. which gives a context to the likelihood canvassed in the Introduction that Gregory’s sister Theosebia was sent by Macrina from Annisa to join him in Nyssa.1). or at least a community of virgins (6. and Gregory Nazianzen’s Letter 197. when for a while the people of Nyssa may have thought they had lost their bishop again. For we had just left the locality of Kelosina149 behind us150 when there was a massive build-up of
147 148
Mss. 2. In this Letter Gregory tells of the triumphant welcome given him on his return home to Nyssa after a long absence. The Lord brought us safely through. The location has not yet been identiﬁed except that it was east of Nyssa. vol.

Cf. But at some stage he must have gone up the tributary river along which Nyssa lay. Die Byzantinische Strassensystem in Kappadokien (Wien. and completed the journey to Vestena151 without being drenched. by the roadside. It is too much to expect that we have here some form of Vanota (= Venasa) corrupted through transmission.22). as the wheels sped easily through the mud which was just moist and on the surface. see Introduction. There are settlements continuously along the banks of the river.the pasquali collection
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clouds and the atmosphere changed from clear sky to a deep gloom. again God ended the downpour. 1975). . And over our heads was a small cloud.13. as if by some signalling device. Now the road from that point to our little town153 passes all along the river. falling on our bodies with a drizzle and a dampness and threatening a deluge as never before. To our left there were frequent thunderclaps. Once we had found shelter there and our mules were given rest. 4) that Gregory’s route lies along the Halys. Vestena is a local town unknown. behind and on each side of us. When we had spent some three or four hours there and had rested suﬃciently. caught by a strong wind. since no-one perceived our arrival in advance. OÈestinØn . OÈgkan«n P (but according Ç to Pasquali the plural does not ﬁt the singular §n √. but a short distance from our little town the cloud overhanging us broke into a stronger downpour.
.154 following the water downstream. 5. see Letter 1. so that our entry was quiet. There was a light drizzle dampening the air. the entire road was full of people. Nyssa could not have been reached from Venasa in a portion of one day. 7. But as soon as we entered the portico the carriage struck against the dry pavement. Ex 14. with no great distance between them. 6. 3. and our carriage152 moved along more briskly than before.7 and 2. Then a cold draught blew from the clouds. 8. . He cites in evidence Friedrich Hild. shortly following). F. 152 On Gregory’s use of a carriage. . ‘Early Years as Bishop’ and note. some coming to meet us and others escorting us closely. At that. the people suddenly appeared I know not
151 tØn m°xriw OÈesthnw ıdon v. Yet we. alternating with the ﬂashes of lightning that anticipated each thunderclap. passed through the midst of the waters on every side of us (cf. Letter 20 and notes. 4. . were swathed in clouds. as in the Israelite wonder. . the signal was given by God to the sky for the downpour. With such a succession of habitations. 153 §p‹ tØn pol¤xnhn ≤m«n. 154 Maraval maintains (167. n. already swollen with rain. 67. all mingling their overﬂowing tears with their delight. All the mountains before. On the locality of Nyssa.

When we had come within the portico. But after we had with diﬃculty persuaded them to allow us a chance to descend and to let our mules pass through. Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire I.1. 36–37. 1971). we saw155 a stream of ﬁre coursing into the church. for we could not ﬁnd a spare space among them. (Cambridge. As part of their general role of social patronage.: GNO 8. ed. with us’ 7.e.387–388 Maraval 192–194). on p. …r«men. that I might attend to the body only when the letter was done. tr. 36. 1. vol.159 There is also the Hierius to whom Gregory of Nyssa dedicated his book de infantibus qui praemature abripiuntur..4). whose career about 380 may well have seen him governor of a province such as Cappadocia.: Letter 4. 11.142
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from where or how. and the Hierius to whom he sent a copy of the VSM. we were pressed on every side by the crowd all around us. 5. suggests he may be the Hierius who became prefect in Egypt in 364.2.1.2. i. 530. stage imagery 7.2 and 7. so much so that their excessive aﬀection all but made us faint. 2. 9. 170 n.
.158 he had already been governor of a province in 360 and would be unlikely to revert to a lower station after the exalted role of prefect. 157 Mss. I wrote out this letter to your holiness as quickly as possible. . bishops were frequently called upon to act as advocates with the civil authorities for the aﬄicted
155 156
ır«men in the mss. The virgins came out in Gregory’s honour but awaited him at the entrance to the church. 10. Letter 7 To Hierius the governor157
The addressee is a governor or magistrate who appear not to be a Christian (‘we have a law’ 7. . under the pressure of thirst. Maraval goes on to mention another Hierius who became Vicar of Africa in 395. Martindale and Morris.: PFV. This role was almost that of a ‘vice-emperor’ with jurisdiction over a civil diocese covering several provinces. NPNF ser. They thronged around us so closely that it was not easy to disembark from the carriage. but translating according to sense. ‘malevolent daimon’ 7. And when I had entered and had both rejoiced and wept with the people—for I experienced both these from witnessing both passions in the crowd—as soon as I had ﬁnished the prayers. ‘side .4. But as Maraval points out. 158 Lettres. Pasquali.
Compare the description of Gregory’s arrival at Annisa in VSM 18. 159 These are ‘Hierius’ 4 and 6 in Jones. for the choir of virgins156 was processing in line into the entrance of the church carrying tapers of wax in their hands.3 (GNO 8. kindling the whole to a splendour with their blaze. according to the inscription in one of the manuscripts.

It is a very serious letter to a governor or magistrate pleading for the life of a young man.
. Maraval perhaps overtranslates ‘préfet’ (prefect). Letter 28. Social Patronage and Political Mediation in the Activity of Basil of Caesarea’.the pasquali collection
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and the disadvantaged. An involuntary accident has taken place. A young man of good lineage named Synesius. not unrelated to me. God alone has power to pluck him from this. Gregory pleads. 4. is in grave peril.160 This is the only surviving letter of Gregory of Nyssa that shows him in such a role. so that it is not easy to ﬁnd those with whom to share our blessings. who voluntarily engages in accidents? But now there are those who are making of this accident an indictment by bringing a capital charge against him. Of this there are many examples in the letters of Basil and Gregory Nazianzen. who is being prosecuted on a capital charge.15). but I beg your benignity to side with justice and with us. 162 daimon.
To Hierius the governor 161 1. 161 ﬂer¤v ≤gemÒni F. Forlin Patrucco. Def. should be enough to pull the governor back from imposing the death sentence. and after God. I write this as my introduction because of the sad tragedy which some malign power162 has been staging among those of longstanding worth. 2. And indeed. though he must have often had calls to do so.
160 As Maraval points out (Lettres 171 n. whereas there is a plentiful supply of those in the contrary case. it seems we are only able to put one into practice. you who are entrusted with the sentence of life and death. Synesius. still in the ﬂush of his youth and scarcely having begun to live. 3. I for my part will endeavour by private letters to shame them into softening their anger. Studia Patristica 17.158–171 at 166–167. We have a law instructing us to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice (Rom 12. that your benevolence may annul the youth’s misfortune. (pr)Úw (≤ge)mÒna ﬂ°ri(on) in margin of P. and this. Whatever his deed. missing in V. 1. 2) Basil describes one of the bishop’s roles as ‘the protector of the people’. an image readily intelligible to pagans. But of these two legislations. it was entirely unintentional and accidental. 1102–1107. For there is a great scarcity in this world of those who prosper. See M. as you seek out every means by which the youth may be freed from danger and so through your alliance defeat the malign power which assails him.

but for a protégé.e.: Letter 5. No-one surely would ever charge me with ﬂattery for saying this if he looks to my age and to your life: for grey hairs are already past the season for ﬂattery and old age is unsuited for fawning. but it is uncertain whether he the same as the present addressee. Libanius also addressed his letter 788 to an Antiochanus. such
Mss. Gregory’s emphasis on his grey hairs and his age suggests a relatively late dating. toË aÈtoË éntioxian« F. and in that kind of possession perhaps I surpass even that great man who made this his special boast. vol. Indeed it will be even more ﬁtting for me to utter such a sentiment. Alternatively. as for his saying that his treasure was in his friends—in this respect I too will dare to put myself on a level with his marvels. who are ever striving against yourself for every form of excellence? 3. to Antiochanus. the name might be read an adjective of generic reference: ‘to an Antiochene’. 2 for examples and bibliography. among neoplatonists of the age. The saying about Alexander and friendship that Gregory is about to cite was a feature exemplum of the Second Sophistic.: GNO 8. 2. even if I were of the right season for ﬂattery. Gregory commends his young friend. The one thing for which the king of the Macedonians165 is especially admired by the wise—for he is admired not so much for his trophies over the Persians or the Indians or for his assertion concerning the Ocean. ed. At 8. 176. 5. missing in V.2 accords with the pagan philosophical tradition.144
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5. 2. since I am rich in friendships. from the mid 380s onwards. as the fellowship between Gregory and Antiochianos is established solely in terms of a shared Hellenism.
164
163
. I have in brief said all that I wanted. NPNF ser. 37–38. For who was such a friend to him as you are to me. n. Letter 8 To Antiochanus163
Gregory writes this letter to a person of social standing who is accustomed to exercising patronage. 165 I. but to suggest in detail how the case may be handled correctly is neither mine to say. It seems he is not a Christian. 530–31.
To Antiochanus164 1. tr. for example. See Maraval.: FV. The striving for virtue in 8. and in your regard. Alexander the Great. Alexander.4 is an excellent example of the use of the term ‘son’ not for a natural son. as.2. nor yours to learn from me.

in 378 or 380.: GNO 8. ed. They take some myth from a history169 or one of the ancient narratives as the subject of their presentation and convey the story to the spectators in act.2c). 5. by sponsoring him in those concerns on account of which he has come to you in need of your patronage. They say that those who stage marvels168 in the theatres devise some such spectacle as this. i. The occasion is unlikely to be that of a Christian festival. 38–39. and it probably has to be dated after one of his major returns to Nyssa. vol. i. rhetorician. Perhaps the governor is coming. do not only show it to him. He was a Cappadocian sophist. prÚw stage¤rion P. absent in V. For that is more suitable than my going into details by letter. NPNF ser. He will tell you all himself.2. 188 and 192 to Stagirius.
To Stagirius167 1. toÁw yaumatopoioËntaw. literally.: PFV. 166. be persuaded to show to him my treasure. 4. but this is too early in terms of the emergence of a collection of Gregory’s letters. and he speaks about him in letter 190. tr. but also put it at his disposal to enjoy abundantly.
.e. apparently not a Christian. But inasmuch as it is the mark of those who are nobly wealthy to know how to use what they have. who lived or had an estate a day’s journey from Nyssa in a town called Osiana (26. mËyon §j ﬂstor¤aw. And this is the way they convey the changing events of the story: they don costumes and
166 167 168 169
Mss. Letter 9 To Stagirius166
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praise would not fall under suspicion of ﬂattery. 5.e. ‘makers of marvels’.: Letter 6. and the best use of possessions is in oﬀering them in common to their friends. and my beloved son Alexander is a friend especially joined to me in all sincerity. stageir¤ƒ F. because your life demonstrates your praise more than do words. It was written in the anticipation of an important meeting in the town. Indeed. but when? It would be attractive to consider it written to an old professional colleague after Gregory moved to Nyssa in 372 as its new bishop. but something of a more public and civic nature in which the presence of as many of the elite as possible is desirable. 531. It is diﬃcult to suggest a particular date. 2. Gregory Nazianzen also addressed his letters 165.

Basil’s Letter 181 to Otreius. Life of Euthymios 3). Theod. both those mimicking the incidents of the story. 3. 531. which we shall more likely to do if we are adorned with your splendour than by any other ornament. 16. Letter 10 To Otreius Bishop of Melitene174
The addressee of this letter is a well-documented ﬁgure. The same letter 6 also shows it with signs of urbanisation. Yet according to 10. 174 Mss. n.176 after he had considered for a moment that it might be linked to letters 11 and 12 and the circumstances of early 380. as he is here.
The space below the stage where the chorus and dancers performed. and the favour which you shall confer is very great. be persuaded to become for the moment the colonizer of our city. Only by putting in an appearance here shall you make173 the desert-place seem a city. Concilia III. though he is probably exaggerating its littleness. 173 paraskeuãsaw PF.: PFV. 96. 596D). NPNF ser. attests that he was one of these Neo-nicene bishops. Sozomen 7. Otreius.2. paraskeuãsv V. What then do I mean by this tale? Since we need to show what is not a city172 as though it were one to those who are assembling there.: Letter 7. and the hangings—and behold. 3. vol.1. He was also present at the Council of Constantinople in 381 (Mansi.175 Earlier opinion dated this letter to the period of Gregory’s exile (376–8). 181. Such was Pasquali’s conclusion. 374. you have the city! 2. 5. Now it is no great journey for you. metropolitan of Melitene in Armenia.5. and such was his standing that he was nominated together with Gregory himself and Helladius of Caesarea as one of the episcopal guarantors of orthodoxy for the Pontic Diocese (Cod. written in c. 175 Much of this information is summed up in Maraval.4a. the place of his present domicile has reasonable access to Melitene
170 171 172
prÒsvpa. the monk-saint of Palestine was entrusted as a child by his mother to Otreius (Cyril of Scythopolis. 2. for we wish to show ourselves with a more digniﬁed air to those who are assembling.
.146
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masks170 and by means of hangings rig up something like a town over the orchestra171 and by the lively mimicry of their actions give the bare scene such an appearance that to those looking on they are a marvel. Gregory calls Nyssa a pol¤xnh in 6.9). Otreius was present at the council of Tyana in 367 when the better part of the Homoiousians were persuaded to join the Neo-nicenes (Sozomen 6. Le Lettere.: GNO 8. Euthymius. 39–40. if not even earlier in Gregory’s episcopate.3.12). 176 Pasquali. tr. ed.

Otreius. the background of letters 10 and 18.19).
‘what gift . and Caesarea is also unlikely at 10 days’ distance. the consolations of God—through your goodness—cheered our soul like the rays of the sun (Ps 93. and gives respite to the aﬄicted (Is 57. On this reckoning then. in which he rejoices at the news of an impending visit from Otreius. however. with God as our co-worker. seems to have been written after letter 18. If merely the good news of your coming has cheered us so much that everything was transformed for us from sharpest pain to a cheerful state. are like the spiritual Spring born of your peaceful beams that has illumined our life and cheered our despondency? 2. what voices of the song-birds so sweet. Homer Odyssey 7. absent in V. Éotre¤ƒ §piskÒpƒ P. . warming our life cowed beneath the frost.178 1b.
. letter 31. Letoius. both to Otreius.15). Cf. at about 13 days distance from Melitene. what then will the mere sight of your precious and gracious coming accomplish? How great will be the consolation that the sweet sound of your voice in our ears will give to our soul! (cf.137.the pasquali collection
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on the Euphrates. what cornﬁeld so gratifying to the farmer—whether erect with green blades or nodding with fruit-laden ears. who revives the fainthearted.
177 178 179
ÉOtrh¤ƒ §piskÒpƒ Melithn∞w F.
To Otreius. are best explained by the circumstances reported in letter 19. Bishop of Melitene177 1a. This can hardly be Nyssa. What ﬂower of spring so bright. May this speedily come to pass. It very probably referred to Letoius’ estimable predecessor and Gregory’s friend. Lk 1. Sebasteia on the other hand has better credentials. being some four to six days journey along a Roman military road to the eastern frontier. . Gregory wrote his canonical letter on Penance. Amid such blessings.179 For both reached the highest peak together—I mean the harshness of my griefs and the sweetness of your blessings. it will perhaps be ﬁtting for us to voice the prophetic word: When the sorrows of my heart were many. what breezes so light and mild that dapple the tranquil sea. what gift of the grapevine so abundant as it sways in the air and overshadows the trellis with its leaves. All things considered. to Otreius’ successor at Melitene.44) 4a. leaves’ missing in FV and recovered from P. in which Gregory is simply glad to receive a letter from him. The present letter. 3. Gregory wrote the present letter to Otreius in the Spring of 380 in a period of despondency due to his enforced detainment at Sebasteia. Unfortunately that letter has lost its introduction.

be rekindling his latent. Gregory’s insists on his ‘old age’. 2. ed.: GNO 8. perhaps no more than a nominal catechumen. which might mean from the mid 380s and after. e. giving examples. and feast at will on such nourishment to satiety. explains that the custom of substituting the name of the province for that of the capital is frequent in ecclesiastical literature of the period.e. The Eupatrius of this letter on the contrary. Le Lettere p. tr. so that Eupatrius’ present circumstances are not unlike Gregory’s in his early days as a rhetorician in Caesarea. Yet compare 12. if there can be any satiety of such blessings. vol. are clearly committed Christians vitally interested in theological issues. There is of course a certain paradox in Gregory’s wish to wean his correspondent from too great a love of Hellenic culture.180 your sweet and good disposition. He probably writes from Nyssa. NPNF ser. 5. a kind of legal oﬃcer in the imperial service. Gregory begins by pointedly drawing attention to his addressee’s lack of familiarity or interest in the Scriptures because he is besotted with Hellenism instead.: Letter 8. Eupatrius’ profession is that of a ‘scholasticus’. i. It is all the more likely then that this letter comes from late in Gregory’s life. if he is a Christian. neglected Christianity. some ﬁtting and appropriate introduction to place at the head of my letter—I mean of course from
180 181 182
§k geitÒnvn.3 it appears that Pontus is his homeland.
To Eupatrius the scholasticus183 1.
Mss. 4b. Caesarea. Pasquali. He gently prods Eupatrius as to this fact and that he really should be aspiring to something more. absent in V. n. as is my custom. But when we turn our eyes to your reverence.g. Anatole (the East) or Oriens. 41–42. 531–2. is very barely so. thanks to the proximity.2.148
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But know that when we consider our own case we are very distressed at the present state of aﬀairs and our aﬄiction has no end. 183 EÈpatr¤v sxolastik« F. we confess the great grace in the Master’s dispensation.5. or at least that is where his father is resident.182 From 11. 95. He has written to Gregory ‘from Cappadocia’. Yet Basil’s addressees there. i. because we are able to enjoy. Eupaterios and his daughter. which may be taken as a ﬁgure for the metropolis.e. for Antioch. 5.
. which was the course he himself had taken in his early adulthood. Letter 11 To Eupatrius the scholasticus181
Pasquali suggests (41) that the addressee is a son of the same name of that ‘Eupaterios’ (sic) to whom Basil addressed his letter 159. Seeking.: FV.

187 I. and his son. Odysseus is Eutropius’ father. Odysseus’ and Telemachus’ shooting of arrows. In short. ‘Letters’.187 And the subject of his merriment is the rivalry between Odysseus and Telemachus for the ﬁrst prize in valour. Only Letters 7 and 17 can be cited.. pelting190 me with your letters. and grandson.417. Laertes. 11. 192 Homer. 14. 185 per‹ toÁw ¶jvyen lÒgouw. And we shall bear with rough Ithaca.e. as they did Laertes. he from Pontus and you from Cappadocia. 186 parå t“ didaskãlƒ t∞w Ímet°raw paideÊsevw. See Introduction. Odyssey 10.514–515.
.192 rough not so much because of stones as of the behaviour of its inhabitants. and his son’s son too. May you therefore never cease from accomplishing the just wish of an excellent and admirable father and surpass your father’s renown by still greater excellences.191 4. Thus the analogy is: Laertes is Gregory.377–378. someone) V.105–118. 2. Odyssey 24. 188 Homer.. literature of the nonChristian.the pasquali collection
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passages of the Scriptures184—I was at a loss what to use. but because I considered it superﬂuous to write such things to those who know nothing about them. since study of the Iliad and the Odyssey was the foundation of a traditional Hellenic education. 3. ‘the words from without’. Odyssey 24. 6. tiw (one.5. and Telemachus is Eutropius. 191 See also Letter 12. pagan canon. Homer is meant. awarding to you the ﬁrst prize against your father. Odyssey 22. 190 Cf. Odysseus. for there are many suitors in it who are the devourers of the possessions
184 An interesting comment. since Gregory’s surviving letters by no means attest a custom of beginning with scriptural passages.463. Telemachus.242. then. and the same to your father against you. I shall be a judge favourable to both of you.27. lit. One such is furnished by the preceptor of your culture186 in the merriment of an elder who after long aﬄiction beholds with his eyes his own son. 189 La°rtew F. What. Hence I will pass over texts of this sort in silence and employ for my introduction the kind adapted to your eloquence. not because I could not ﬁnd anything suitable. your zeal for extern literature185 was proof for us of your lack of interest in the divine lessons.189 you contended in honourable rivalry for the ﬁrst prize in showing us respect and kindness. What then does this recollection of the Cephallenians188 have to contribute to the purpose of my discourse? It is because when both you and your wholly admirable father welcomed me. of me the old man? I count it a most happy day when I see such rivalry between father and son! 5. Homer. It begs questions of the selection of letters that have survived.

22. and remarks the contrasting tone of the two letters. 195 Mss. 1. ed. Basil himself deals with abduction in his letters on canonical penance. and marriage for ﬁnancial gain are still too painfully current.: GNO 8. However. or the slowing down of all the limbs though the stiﬀness of old age. unsuitable for anyone much younger than Gregory. insulting the bride by the very fact that they threaten the chaste woman with marriage. Or.2 as a title of address. Gregory’s personal situation detailed in 12. tr. 4. Moreover. Letter 199. Letter 12 To the same195
This letter follows the previous one in the two manuscripts.2. in which old practices of marriage by abduction (often connected with ﬁnancial manipulations). 19. by entertaining us in youthful fashion with your brisk and sprightly language shall restore youth to our old age. characteristically understands Gregory’s imagery as a metaphor for a state of the church (= bride) and relates it to the church in Sebasteia in 380 awaiting a true bridegroom (= bishop). 92–95. Gregory uses her as a ﬁgure for a vicious use of the tongue. 8.
. The possibility that the present addressee might be the father of the Eupatrius of letter 11—raised by Pasquali in Le Lettere 94. compared to the addressee of letter 11. The tone is also markedly diﬀerent in the two letters. It is precisely because of this that Maraval. who heaped abuse on Odysseus on his return home (in disguise). Maraval translates in a slightly diﬀerent sense: ‘qu’ils menacent la chasteté du marriage’. Pasquali. Bishops in such cases often acted as the advocate of the wronged woman. 43. 194 One of Penelope’s handmaids. NPNF ser.65–69. or some other such person. 532–3. supporting the feebleness of our length of days by this beautiful care for the aged which so well becomes you. Gregory Nazianzen gives an example in Basil’s life as bishop. for which she was later hanged: Odyssey 18. doubts that they were written to the same person at all. 7. Yet the internal evidence is against it. n. as if Gregory is referring here to a partially christianised populace in Nyssa. Maraval (188.56. 1) prefers to take the meaning literally. 2. vol.150
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of the one whom they woo. 5. 190.193 acting in a way worthy of a Melantho.321–336. n. but dismissed— should perhaps be reconsidered. for there is no-one anywhere to bring them to their senses with his bow. specially if the description in
193 t“ §papeile›n tÚn gãmon tª svfrÒsun˙. Nyssa hardly seems to be indicated. A very obvious diﬀerence between the letters is the manifestly Christian status of the addressee here. He reads the ‘your friendliness’ in 12.: FV. You see how we babble on about matters which are not at all ﬁtting for the elderly! But may I receive ready forbearance on account of my grey hairs. 42–44. But you. n. for prattling is as characteristic of old age as it is bleariness for the eyes.194 I think.3 must mean something. The advice of the better manuscript is that it was sent to the same addressee.: Letter 9.

There
196 197
t“ aÈt“ in margin F. like a beautiful prelude announced to us what might be expected in you. The loveliness of Spring does not shine forth all at once. we both welcome the grace in this letter like some ﬁrst-appearing ﬂower of spring and pray that we may soon experience the full season in yourself. The last paragraph means that the coming of Spring is even more desirable to him because his friend’s journey to visit him will then be easier. something like this I see in the character of many of those who dwell in these parts. These however are the signs of Spring.
. 3b. as a suitable occasion. goodÇ
will.5 is compared. in the same distressing circumstances as told in 19. Then the fresh shoots of grass can be seen. He proposes the ‘great holy day’ in springtime. 3a.
To the same196 1. when the sunbeam gently warms both the earth’s frozen surface and the half-visible bud hidden in the node. and the breezes blow over the earth so that that the generative and life-giving power of the air deeply penetrates it. It seems more likely then that Gregory is writing from Sebasteia in the very early Spring of the year 380. rather than the Spring itself—not but that they are sweet.the pasquali collection
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18. and then another on top of that. First there is a prelude to the season. and so it goes on without cease. hardens over the ice and adds to its mass.e. kindness. when it spreads over the frozen surface. and the return of the birds which winter had exiled. cruelly oppressed by the coldness and bitterness of the people here and their ways. the festival of Easter. which is couched in terms of a play between Winter and Spring. Gregory borrows the imagery of that season to give shape to the whole letter. 2. and many such things. and another again. i.14–18. What then does my discourse mean? Just as the friendliness197 in your letter came to us as a forerunner of the treasures within you. and. Just as ice forms in the cottages if water seeps in—for I will use an example from our regions—and so the low-lying dampness. For we would have you know that we have been cruelly. They are always plotting and inventing something spiteful. absent in V. A fresh mischief hardens on top of what has already been perpetrated. because they are the harbingers of what is sweetest of all. ≤ diå t«n grammat«n sou filofrÒsunh prow ≤mçw §lyoËsa. benevolence.

44–46.
. but lads enjoying his patronage. The distressing events reported in letter 19 are surely implied—in which case the present letter may be dated no earlier than late 380.200 And yet Gregory of Nyssa did marry
198 This seems to mean that it is better that Eupatrius (senior?) comes to his homeland to visit Gregory.198 Come then.3 (‘my most precious son Amphilochius’). The present letter is Gregory’s reply to Libanius. vol. The list of griefs mentioned by Gregory (13. especially since our great holy day approaches and it would be more blessed that the land which bore you should be honoured by her own than that Pontus should by ours. whether that is Armenia Minor (Sebasteia) or Cappadocia (Nyssa). though no letter of Libanius to Gregory of Nyssa appears in the Libanian corpus. For this reason the Spring. NPNF ser. than that Gregory should go to see Eupatrius in Pontus. after Gregory’s return to Nyssa from captivity in Sebasteia. 21. 2. Gregory modestly but candidly avows his allegiance to Christian masters. 5. it is worth mentioning that Gregory also calls Alexander ‘my son’ in letter 8. Gregory Nazianzen for his part very freely named his protégés ‘my son’. F identiﬁes him as Libanius. either his natural son or a young protégé.3. often with added terms of endearment—and none were his sons in the ﬂesh. On the question whether Cynegius was Gregory’s natural son. 199 Mss. your very self.4. was sent for training to Libanius. Therefore do not let the favour be slow in coming. who in turn sent back a letter to Gregory with the lad on one of his return trips home to Cappadocia. dear head. Gregory here seems to be in the position of his correspondent Ablabius in letter 21: someone receiving a son/student home. and they were not his natural sons.152
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is no limit to their hatred and to the proliferation of their vicious deeds. tr. 5.: GNO 8.2. depending on the place in which Gregory is writing. Letter 13 To Libanius199
This letter is written to an illustrious sophist who is not a Christian. 22. for this is what will ﬁll up the measure of our blessings.2) evidently followed a visit to Antioch where Gregory was able to meet Libanius. his own homeland. sweet as it is by nature. 4. the famous master of rhetorical studies at Antioch.3. and Diogenes/Basil likewise in letter 21.2. So we have need of many prayers that the grace of the Spirit may soon breathe over them and thaw the bitterness of their hatred and melt the ice that hardens upon them through their malice. 200 A few examples: letters 13. The situation revealed in the letter is that Cynegius. 533.: FV.: Letter 10. Gregory’s ‘son’. ed. bring us a multitude of blessings. becomes more desirable than itself for those who expect you after such storms.

For Gregory the practice of medicine provided many comparisons with the healing of the soul (letter 31. I once heard a physician tell of a surprising reversal of nature.4.23 attests that Basil attained to a mastery of the art in both theory and practise. 151. too. he said.the pasquali collection
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and the possibility remains that Cynegius was his natural son.1 (‘my very precious son George’). For more on Gregory’s rhetorical powers see the Introduction: ‘Rhetoric and style in Gregory’s letters’.2 (‘our sweetest son Nicoboulus’). Without a doubt study of medicine formed part of the higher curriculum pursued by the brothers.5). However Gregory’s self-deprecation here in respect of his own rhetorical skills are not be taken at face value. we have an analogy drawn from a medically informed mind (30. Medical literacy was part of the culture of the entire family. was sent by God for the saving of human beings’.2. The analogy of the bodily physician / spiritual physician is a mainstay of his ascetic writings. See his comments in letter 33. In his youth at the council of Constantinople in 360. 199.4 preserves the vital testimony that Gregory for a short time studied rhetoric under his brother Basil. But this attitude was shared with all his siblings. 127. For a while Gregory had even been a professional colleague of Libanius. See the Introduction. 202 Gregory was well informed in the best of contemporary medicine and esteemed the profession highly. for nothing that was devised for his cure had any eﬀect. See his long matured statement on the Christian approach to medicine in Longer Responses 55. On Virginity 22). 43.2.404–406.9. 201 Liban¤v F. In On the Soul and the Resurrection we learn that a physician was by Macrina’s bedside during her dying days. 13. he listened attentively to Basil of Ancyra. and she uses his attentiveness to her bodily condition as an occasion to comment on spiritual healing. He began to blame the medical art for being able to do less than it professed.2. Someone was laid low. 209.
. 144.4 (GNO 8.3 (Gregory Senior again). 126. letter 30.1d). Now in this letter (13.3. In the VSM 33. ‘Was Gregory married?’ and ‘Gregory’s marriage: a scenario’. with one of the more intractable illnesses. 188.4. 157. absent in V.1. 167. Even in the one scrap of writing we have from Peter. a trained physician whose medical expertise informed his ascetic doctrine (See Introduction ‘Young Adulthood’ and note. 83.1.202 And this was his story. Then some good news was brought him exceeding all his hopes.8 (where Gregory senior calls Basil ‘our most God-beloved son’). He was highly trained in rhetoric and practised successfully as a rhetorician in Caesarea for some eight years.
To Libanius201 1. 5) we learn that the greatest master of the age has himself commended Gregory’s abilities.1a.1 (Nicoboulus our very dear son).3. Contra Eunomium 1. Maraval 242–246) Emmelia urges her daughter to see a physician ‘for this art. 41.3. and it was this happy chance
23. Gregory Nazianzen informs us in Oration 43. This praise coming from such a man brings Gregory the keenest delight which he struggles to temper with a decent modesty.

But I think it timely that I have just recalled this story. through the alleviation of its anxiety. he became the cause and occasion of our receiving a letter from you. 4. But if you speak of your wisdom. 204 The plural seems to refer to Basil. But if you ask who are our teachers—if indeed we are thought to have learned anything from them—you will ﬁnd that they are Paul and John and the other Apostles and Prophets—if we are not too bold to claim the teaching of such men. For when I was in a condition other than I would wish—I do not need now to list precisely the causes of all the griefs which befell me from the time I was with you till the present—someone unexpectedly told me of the letter which had arrived from your unparalleled erudition. My bodily condition then began to change immediately for the better. and since you are able. absent in V. freeing the man from his disease. This is the only independent testimony. because. But now that my son203 Cynegius has become the occasion of this favour to me. my soul was aﬀected immediately as if I had been proclaimed before all the world for the noblest achievements. for I have no leisure to philosophise over such things. he is our benefactor. But just as Gregory spent only a short time under Basil’s tutelage. so Basil could not have
. So much for these matters. a singular possessive is chosen because of the proximity of moi (‘to me’). and I can relate to you the same marvel as the story above. and he who told me did not enlarge on the subject. as we said. Libanius. English requires a possessive here. the admirable Basil—know that I found no muniﬁcent supply in the instructions of my teachers. 2. apart from the much disputed correspondence between Basil and Libanius. and behind him. 3.204 since I was
203 uﬂÚw F. disposed the body to be in the same state as itself. through your outstanding ability to do good. As soon as we received the missive and perused what you had written. to beneﬁt not only us but also our benefactors. I cannot say. and in perfect health as I read the other. that the former had at some stage been the latter’s pupil. and for this reason he deserves well.154
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that did the work of the art. Whether the soul. so highly did we value the testimony with which you favoured us in your letter. or whether it was some other reason. for as I read one part of the letter I was ailing. which those competent to judge say streams down from you and is imparted to all who have some share of eloquence— for this is what I heard him say to all who was your disciple and my father and teacher.

at least in your judgment not contemptible—allow us to presume to attribute to you the cause of our attainments. 205 §pÉ Ùl¤gon t“ édelfƒ suggegonÒta. 209 Mss. is mentioned in both letters. Cynegius. The only available period seems to be 349 when both Basil and Libanius may have been in Constantinople. tr.e.2.208 Letter 14 To Libanius the sophist209
This letter is addressed as is the previous letter. 533–4. Nevertheless.
. He spent a few months teaching rhetoric in Caesarea (where Gregory was a student) before he returned to Annisa in Pontus where. where the most prominent of his teachers in rhetoric was Prohaeresius. If.206 5. Gregory uses the erotic language familiar in traditional Hellenism. so is the water in a jar—yet nevertheless it comes from the Nile. It may be that at the time of this letter Cynegius was at an early stage of his studies. as I myself judge. 46–48. ed. 2. 207 Gregory is aﬀecting modesty. The appropriate period seems to be mid/late 356. under Macrina’s inﬂuence. 208 As Maraval remarks (Lettres 201 n.: FV. whenever I had leisure I devoted myself assiduously to the whole course of study. In fact. vol. then. In 14. NPNF ser. Thereafter Basil moved to Athens for his studies. and if his wealth came from your treasures. But if our attainments are few. 5.9 Gregory authorizes Libanius to use constraint if the lad shows himself lazy in his studies.: Letter 11. after Basil’s return from Athens. Gregory’s phrase has a proverbial ring about it. to the great Libanius. however the text as it stands seems more in keeping with the tone of self-deprecation Gregory expresses in the remainder of the letter. even of ourself. i. he always strove to produce a Greek style worthy of the best traditions of the Second Sophistic.
spent much time as Libanius’ student.: GNO 8. Maraval accepts an amendment to the text proposed by Müller: ‹épo›tuxe›n d¢ mhd°pv toË ®rvtow = ‘and I have never forsaken that desire’. then we have acquired what is yours even if we received it through others. 206 Again.207 and if it is not allowable that your opinion of us be other than true—that the discourse of some. 3) the water of the Nile was reputed to have medicinal properties. though I never attained the object of my desire.the pasquali collection
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apprenticed to my brother205 only a short time and was only suﬃciently puriﬁed by his divine tongue to be able to discern the deﬁciency of those uninitiated into discourse. For if our proﬁciency in discourse was from Basil. and this he achieved in no mean degree. 6. he resolved to pursue the ascetic life. is. for formal instruction in rhetoric. and became enamoured of the beauty that is yours. the same son/protégé of Gregory and a student of the famous sophist. what is ours who never had a teacher is nothing. with regard to what is yours.

the noblest pledge. during one of his periodic visits home. Olympian Ode 1. 9. and soulless possession—but that which is loftier than all wealth to those who have intelligence. vol. for the reference is in fact to Euripides. Gregory would appear to have read both or at least one of these texts.213 I speak of your letter and the great riches it contains. absent in V. Gregory received the second letter from Libanius on 1st January. and during this day they inaugurate the entire year. and abolished by Claudius: but in these times it had been revived. 213 Pindar. 2. 28’.. Pasquali emends pÒrouw (‘purchases’) to pÒtouw (‘drinking bouts’). What do I mean by beginning my letter in this way? It is because I too have observed this festival.211 2. but glosses his translation as ‘acquisitions de bon augure’ = ‘acquisitions of good omen’. that heavy. The beginning of the month is reckoned sacred. Symmachus Ep. 4. It is when the sun begins again to climb to the upper region and the length of the days begins to increase. x. in which case he wrote this letter some time in January 381. Ausonius Ep. 533. It seems to have been the very day he delivered his Funeral Oration on Basil. tainted.
toË aÈtoË Liban¤v sofist∞ F. festivities.1–2. However Pasquali and Maraval say that Gregory has made a mistake in his attribution. 8. n. where perhaps Gregory had broached Cynegius’ potential candidacy as a student of the master. in which he also discusses this civic festival.212 For on that occasion there came also into my hands gold—not like the vulgar gold which rulers love and those who have it give.156
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whereas letter 13 shows him a later stage. aﬁyÒmenon pËr ëte diapr°pei nuktÚw megalãnoforow ¶joxa ploÊtou. devoting themselves to happy chances. because of the trouble it involved to himself. The letter is valuable for showing that Gregory was well aware of the beginning of the Roman year on 1 January. as Pindar says. NPNF ser. According to 14. We ﬁnd mention of it in the reigns of Theodosius.2. 1.
210 211
. xviii. understanding that Gregory’s himself may have made the subtle change in reference to own fortunate acquisition of Libanius’ letter. 212 ‘The custom of New Year’s gifts (strenarum commercium) had been discontinued by Tiberius. fragment 326. There is a custom among the Romans of celebrating a festival about the Winter solstice after the manner of their ancestors. Gregory had personally met Libanius during his attendance at the council in Antioch during 379. and purchases. and of Arcadius. Maraval however maintains the text of the mss. As may be inferred from letter 13. while he was in Caesarea. 5.
To Libanius the sophist 210 1. and in Or. citing Libanius’ use of the word in Or. and endeavours to honour Libanius by the allusion.1 ı de xrusÚw. having received like them a golden gift.6.

Contrast one of Gregory’s heroes and spiritual ancestors.the pasquali collection
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3. But I beg this beneﬁt from you for the common life: that you will not contemplate any longer what you threatened to us in dark hints at the end of your letter. 76 also mentions that the tachygraphy was often chosen over rhetorical studies. as if to be generous only to those sensible of the favour and withhold our good deeds from the ungrateful. Since even with farmers—to use a homely comparison—approval of the labours they have already performed is a great incentive to further labours. bear with us if we treat what you yourself have given as a deposit. but to imitate the dispenser of all things who gives a share of the good things of his
214 The reference is to Latin. I met one of my acquaintances who handed me this gift. 5. But perhaps it will be well to remind you of a passage in our Scriptures. p. All shared in it. with a view to employment in government chanceries. 2). each eagerly acquiring the whole of it. but still diﬃcult to me’.
. aﬀording me more joy than does the metal to the eyes of those rich in gold. Aubineau. So it returned to my hands. For it so happened that on that day. For our Word bids those who are capable of doing good not to look to the dispositions of those whom they are beneﬁting. some by memorizing the words through repeated reading. I was overjoyed at this good fortune and threw open my gain to all who were present. your letter. while I was none the worse oﬀ. others by taking a copy of them upon tablets. Maraval gives contemporary examples of abandoning rhetoric for more practical career training (204 n. and one most aptly conformable to royal authority. For who will utter anything if you carry out this severe threat against eloquence? 7. that if some err by deserting the Greek language for the barbarian.1053A) his describes Latin as ‘the Roman tongue. Gregory Thaumaturgus. which is a wonderful and magniﬁcent sort of language. seeking ultimately a career in law or higher imperial administration. and on this account write so that we may stir you to write back. as I was visiting the metropolis of the Cappadocians. In his Panegyric to Origen (PG 10. Gregory indulges Libanius’ polemic by likening this course to that of mercenary soldiers. as a feast-day present. 4. Traite de Virginitate. as it passed through the hands of all became the private wealth of each. For the letter. who in the 3rd century travelled to Beirut for legal studies. For I do not consider it a fair judgment. which necessitated the study of Latin.214 becoming mercenary soldiers and choosing a soldier’s rations instead of the renown of eloquence—you should therefore condemn eloquence and sentence us to an inarticulate life. 6. Libanius often complained in his letters of the young who quit the schools of rhetoric for the law schools at Beirut or Rome.

some time after Gregory had completed Contra Eunomium I. The letter may be dated to c. perhaps he hopes the dogmatic arguments might even exercise some Christian persuasion over the great sophist. ed.
.: FV. For those who do not see the sun do not thereby hinder the sun’s existence. that he might avoid217 the pitiful and discreditable plight in which they are sunk today who once withdrew from rhetorical study. even if he is unwilling. he reports Wilamowitz’ opinion that some house of correction for delinquents is to be understood. The John addressed here may also be the addressee of Libanius’ Letter 1576.215 show yourself always to be in your life as the time past has shown you to be. But he wants them to read certain deﬁnite parts to their esteemed teacher.
215 216
Ç Ù yaumãseie.: GNO 8. to the good and those who are not such (cf. vol. I pray that he may be as far as possible from the common disease which has seized upon young men these days. it is only right that he should be put under constraint. ‘On his work against Eunomius’. 217 There is some disturbance of the text here. 48–49. Pasquali marks a lacuna. admirable sir.43–45). 534–5 which uses the title of F. Gregory hopes to inspire in these young Christian students of rhetoric a zeal for defending authentic doctrine. Letter 15 To John and Maximian218
The following is a covering letter sent with a copy of Contra Eunomium I to two young Christian students of ‘the sophist’. 2. and that he will devote himself of his own accord to the study of rhetoric. 218 Mss. tr. In that case they are bringing a copy of Gregory’s book with them as they return to Antioch for their studies. Gregory uses the courtesies of the Platonic dialogues.4–5).2. Mt 5. Even so it is not right that the rays of your eloquence should be dimmed because of those whose who are shut to the senses of the soul.216 But if he is otherwise disposed. who appears to be Libanius. But as for Cynegius.158
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creation to all alike. 382 or perhaps the Spring of 383. in which Gregory himself fully shared. NPNF ser. 5.
How greatly this contrasts with the enthusiasm for Hellenism in mid 360s stirred up by Julian.: Letter 12. properly referring to the following letter. 9. In sending them a copy of the ﬁrst book (or strictly ﬁrst two books) of his refutation of Eunomius. 8. Perhaps he feels need of reassurance for his use of invective (see his anxieties on this score in letter 29. In heeding this counsel.

vol.: FV. as Isocrates says. . 4. 535. 250). Gregory Nazianzen’s letter 169 is also addressed to a Strategius who seems to be resident in Constantinople. especially those before the debates. 2. 4. Perhaps also some of the dogmatic parts will not appear to you interpreted without grace. be sure that you read it as to a teacher and an expert. NPNF ser. and a calligrapher. and take to him specimens of choice style. 222 ıte grãfvn ka‹ Ù dokimãzvn tå gegramm°na.: the concluding part of Letter 12.
219 220
Basil also remarks his lack of available scribes in Letters 134.the pasquali collection To John and Maximian219
159
1. for though my refutation of the heresy221 has been ﬁnished for some considerable time. 5. through stirring up the boldness of youth by the eagerness of old age. Lettres 209.304–307 (according to which he has even resorted to training them—see Letter 334). . tr. 223 Isocrates. 2. choose certain passages. Letter 16 To Strategius224
In c. there was no one to transcribe it. n. I have sent the treatise on to you— not. for I do not reckon that there is anything in it that it might be a prize to one who receives it. For to such a state of poverty has the once envied condition of the Cappadocians come!’). 3. 245. 49–50. as yet I am not provided with any fast copyist. may be the
toË aÈtoË *ﬁ *v ka‹ majimian“ F. We Cappadocians are poor in almost all the things that make those who possess them happy—and poor especially in those able to write. 2. but as an invitation from us meant to hearten those who are in the full vigour of youth to do battle with our adversaries. Def.
.2. Alternatively with Maraval. This indeed is the reason for the long delay of my treatise. Strategius.307–311 (‘. letters 244. 224 Mss. if either. absent in V.: GNO 8. But if any part of the treatise appears worthy of the ear of the sophist. It was this lack of copyists that in all likelihood brought on us the suspicion of slackness or of inadequacy for the task.220 2. It is diﬃcult to say which of these two men. which would not have taken long to transcribe. But now that by God’s grace the copyist and proof-reader of the texts222 have been found. acted as a trusted courier for many of Basil’s letters (See Basil. rather than his much briefer Antirrhetic against Apollinaris. Oratio ad Demonicum 2.223 as a gift. and 135 Def. ed. But whatever you do read. 221 Gregory refers to his lengthy Contra Eunomium. these terms might be taken to mean a tachygrapher who takes down the text from dictation. 375 a presbyter.

n. 227 tª skaiÒthti t«n ginom°nvn . lit.’
225 226
.e.225 Standing apart in three places. But do not to
‘i. Letters of reconciliation. we brush aside the souls of those who hope in us through the left-handedness of what we actually do. and with a certain movement of the hand to the right or the left they make a show of throwing. 1b. 228 monomer«n épofãsevn Ífarparga¤. . each catching it in turn from the other. literally ‘right-hand hope’. tokens. noted Gregory‘s own diﬃculties (‘spectacle of our aﬀairs’ 16. Those who play ball go about it in some such way such as this. 3. gifts. Gregory at any rate sent this letter in reply to a letter in which his correspondent has told him of his own diﬃculties. slanders. called also §fet¤nda by Hesychius’. they throw it to the other side instead. thwarting his expectation with a trick. So instead of their hope of the right hand226 that we dangle before them. you who maintain your conﬁdence towards God through all such trials.4) and expressed his general despondency. ibid. and 3. 5. ‘Right’ and ‘left’ are now being used metaphorically for ‘favourable’ and ‘sinister’. A date later in the 380s when dealings had all but irretrievably broken down would ﬁt the kind of despondency revealed in 16. One gains the impression that Gregory in writing to encourage Strategius is being quietly and courteously brave amidst severe trials of his own. two of them take accurate aim and toss the ball one to the other. ‘ﬁlchings of isolated bits out of context. Strategius may have been taken aback by the animosity Helladius shows to Gregory personally and perhaps to anyone connected with his predecessor’s circle. The letter may belong to the period of Gregory’s incarceration in Sebasteia in early 380 (letter 19). charges and bits of phrases torn out of context. 17). 535. . This holds true even now for many of us when we refuse to be genuine and casually play ball with human beings. t∞w deziçw §lp¤dow. But instead of the good cheer one hoped for from all this. plots. the game of fain¤da.227 2a. kindly greetings. one ﬁnds accusations. But whatever direction they see him scurrying.160
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addressee of this letter. while they bluﬀ the player in the middle who is jumping up at it.
To Strategius 1a. aﬀectionate embraces by letter—these are making a show of throwing the ball to the right. By turning the face in a certain direction.228 2b. reproaches. but another and perhaps more likely setting is that of the tension between himself and Helladius of Caesarea (letters 1. parakrouÒmenoi.2a. You are blessed in your hopes.

233 Sozomen. vol.6. 36–40. The more immediate background to this letter is persuasively outlined by Maraval. 231 Mss: FV.2. 1 Cor 10:13).
229 …w ín tØn ﬁd¤an di°jodon lãb˙ tå prãgmata–reading neuter plural prãgmata as subject of lãb˙. tr. Compare the story of Gregory Thaumaturgus who corrected unworthy motives for choosing a new bishop of Comana in The Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus. But do you. In that case the text from Rom 12:19 may be a later insertion. For the broader political background to the letter. pp. Gen 50:20) became for him the road to kingship.232 It is notable that in this letter hellenism and philosophy retire before a thorough immersion in Scripture and an intensely Christian discourse. 535–538. Gregory writes in the style of an apostolic pastoral letter. ed. see the prefatory notes to Letter 1. Gregory is using scripture allusively since neither is a dominical saying from the Gospel. 2. In any case. as there certainly is shortly. 51–58. who was also a deacon in the church of Milan under St Ambrose. There may be an allusion here to 1 Cor 10:13. 3. GNO 8. 16 and 19 especially).19. cod. 5. mention a certain Gerontius.35). although not without a trademark hint of Platonist thought (17. 59. 232 GNO 10. 8. O best of men. 5. since the malice of his siblings (cf. 39–41.the pasquali collection
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look to our words. I will repay. Retribution is mine. as he says. He speaks from long experience of the strife in the churches. NPNF ser. a man of eloquence and a gifted physician in high demand. Entrust the ﬁtting and just outcome230 of your aﬀairs (cf. 230 dika¤an t«n pragmãtvn épÒbasin—the actual word used in 1 Cor 10:13. Gregory fervently exhorts the presbyterate of Nicomedia to keep certain important desiderata in mind when considering a successor to their bishop Patricius. 4. Bibl.
. Dt 32. we beg you. Put your hope in God and do not let the spectacle of our aﬀairs retard you in your progress toward the beautiful and the good. and of unsavoury episcopal politics that sometimes have aﬀected him deeply (See letters 1. For surely Joseph did not despond at the envy of his brothers. but to the Lord’s teaching in the Gospel—for what consolation can he be to another in pain who is overcome by his own pains?—so that diﬃculties will ﬁnd their own issue229 (cf.7). 233 Lettres. not entirely ﬁtting with the drift of Gregory’s thought. 1 Cor 10:13) to God the just judge and act as the Divine wisdom directs you. and Photius.1. Letter 17 To the presbyters of Nicomedia231
This letter is a stirring invocation of the qualities to be looked for in a true Christian bishop. act in a way worthy of yourself. says the Lord (Rom 12.

and R. Nectarius’ successor. ‘L’éveque d’après une lettre de Grégoire’. Since Euphrasius was present at the Council of Constantinople in 381 (Mansi. he decamped to Constantinople.162
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Disciplined by Ambrose for an episode of very peculiar behaviour. for the building
234 For studies of letter 17 see J. May the Father of mercies and the God of all comfort (2 Cor 1:3) who disposes all things in wisdom as it is ﬁtting (cf. late 380s–394. it seems. visit you with his own grace and comfort you in himself. Sozomen relates that he was ordained bishop of Nicomedia by none other than Helladius of Caesarea. and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ come upon you.234
To the presbyters of Nicomedia235 1. ‘Gregor von Nyssa und das Bischofsamt’. Daniélou (p. was the man. and the communion of the Holy Spirit (2 Cor 13:13). Nectarius of Constantinople attempted to depose Gerontius. Having intruded unwittingly in their schemes. He implores the Nicomedians not to elect someone unworthy of them. was practising simony. Concilia III. where he built up a network of inﬂuential friends. Ps 103:24). Zeitschrift für Kirchengeschichte 84 (1973). it is not hard to discern that some passages in this letter seem heatedly. partly as a favour for having obtained a high military post for his son. and Patricius succeeded him as bishop of Nicomedia for some time. His appeal. working in you that which is well-pleasing to Him (Heb 13:21). If this construction of events is correct. 236 Note the solemn invocation of the Holy Trinity. Helladius. if obliquely aimed at some person in particular. did not succeed—another example of his failures at church politics. Daniélou. Once such a background is appreciated. He was Helladius’ candidate for Nicomedia and Gregory seems to have campaigned against this already canvassed appointment. 46) dates the letter to 390. he could only be utterly bewildered by the storm of Helladius’ animosity against him. St John Chrysostom. and succeeded in deposing him against all opposition. for the perfecting of the Church. On Ambrose’s advice. It is possible Gregory was not even aware of the private ‘deals’ between Gerontius and Helladius. Given that Gregory also mentions his advanced age. since Gerontius needed some time to build up his strong following in Nicomedia. Euntes Docete 20 (1967). 149–173. the letter may be safely placed in Gregory’s last years. however. in short. Maraval suggests we are probably still in the 380s. Gerontius.
. 85–98. Staats. 235 The inscription is found only in V.236 to cure you of all your tribulation and aﬄiction and guide you towards all good. it gives us a hint of the kind of personal grievances Helladius may have had against Gregory as seen in letter 1. was more resolute in dealing with Gerontius. these events must have taken place some years after 381. 572A). but he was thwarted by strong Nicomedian opposition.

whose one intent and endeavour it is to oppose the divine will in order that none should be saved or come to the knowledge of the truth (1 Tim 2.12). either by us. Nicomedia.11–13). or by your piety through invitation. According to canonical procedure. On his death. ‘no turn around/return of besetments’. and be comforted with you. This is the background of the present letter. that we were not careless in discharging the visitation237 entrusted by you. were part.239 but that the resolve of those who
237 §pisk°cevw. 572A). either in time past. and together with you exercise all diligence.the pasquali collection
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up of your souls (cf. But even though the outstanding debt of charity has not been discharged. so that you may no longer be torn asunder by this discord. cf. For how aﬄicted do you think we were. when Gregory was proposed with Otreius and Helladius as a custodian of orthodox communion for the civil diocese of Pontus. taking your prayer to God as an ally of our desire. Thus may we discover a means of remedying the distresses which have already transpired. by advancing age. Yet your goodness was also greatly remiss towards us. 238 This Euphrasius subscribed to the Council of Constantinople in 381 [or the ﬁrst council of C. or indeed now after the passing of the blessed Patricius.4. alternatively t«n §fest≈tvn might be ‘of those set over you’. brothers. 2 Tim 2. Hos 11. Rom 1. as is to be expected. in 360?] as bishop of Nicomedia (Mansi III. or any note of explanation to our church. now at any rate we pray to God. 2a. 239 oÈdem¤a g°gone t«n §fest≈tvn §pistrofØ. when we heard from those who reported to us your aﬀairs that there was no change in the strained situation. 2) this refers to the mandate of the Council of Constantinople in 381. although blessed Euphrasius your Bishop238 had in all sincerity bound our slight worth to himself and to you as with the cords of love (cf. lit. According to Maraval (Lettres 216 n. this would have been carried out by a number of neighbouring bishops presided over by the nearest Metropolitan. where one withdraws himself from the Church in one direction.4). 3. that we may visit you as soon as possible.25). for no word ever came by letter to invite us. aggravated. and we were also greatly weakened in body. Eph 4. 4.
. through visitation. 2b. the presbyterate set about preparing for an election of his successor. and for the greater praise of his glorious name. to be dated probably sometime in the late 380s. someone else in another. and you are thereby exposed as a laughing-stock to the Devil. Many indeed were our anxieties for the churches. and of securing your future. But we make this defence of ourselves before your charity. of which Bithynia and its metropolis. as the Lord may lead us (cf.

242 Translating with Pasquali’s addition: . I think it is well to look for one who wants the good of the church so that he who is appointed may be ﬁtted for the leadership. and capable of recalling the haphazard detour of this stream to its pristine beauty. because the submerged bed has been hollowed out to ﬁt the course of the outﬂow. Your aﬀairs accordingly need a wise and strong administrator.8). watered by the irrigating stream of peace. Jn 11. skope›n <tÚn> tå kalå tª §kklhsi& boulÒmenon. it is diﬃcult to recall it to its channel.242 10. not allowing his soul to be dragged down by anything material.35.52) to the harmony of the one body and spiritual peace ﬂourishes among the many who glorify God piously. But if indeed there are some—and even we ourselves—who are indiﬀerent. otherwise a diﬃcult clause might be construed as ‘it is well to look
for noble qualities in the one chosen for the church’.20).
. so that the cornﬁelds of your piety may once again ﬂourish abundantly (cf. I think. 8. diverts to one side and ﬂows away. You must rather look to what concerns yourselves. 15.e. let no-one on seeing this be harmed on his own account. they soon sink deep into their accustomed groove and do not easily return to the grace that they once had. skilled to channel such a situation aright. It was because of this danger. with the result that. 6. For what is done unﬁttingly by some does not make it lawful for others also to practise what is unﬁtting. and that he might always be solicitous for this possession in himself.241 9. just so is the impulse of secessionists.240 Once they have slipped aside through their contentiousness from the pious and upright faith. or ‘apostates’. Jn 4. unless the leak is mended. when those who are scattered return again (cf. 5. But the apostolic word does not direct us to
240 241
épostãntvn. with orthodox faith. that the levitical law gave to the Levite no share in the inheritance of the land. i. he might have God alone as the portion of his possession (cf. that someone may be designated by the Holy Spirit to preside over you who will keep his eye ﬁxed wholly on the things of God and will not allow his gaze to be distracted hither and thither by any of the things prized in this life. eÈseb«w. 7. as it is written. . For this reason you must all exercise great diligence and fervent desire in this matter. To this end. in order that.164
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had once turned aside was continuing in the same course? For as water from a conduit often overﬂows the adjacent bank. Num 18. so that your church’s prospects might turn for the better. .

5. In the fourth century AD there was a ﬂourishing cult of St Thomas in Edessa. They were not of consular rank or generals or prefects or noted for rhetoric and philosophy. your calling. 2 Cor 6. if one is not able to do much because of poverty. we shall welcome the more honourable endowments not one wit less if they are without these gifts. the Edessenes. Perhaps even now it is thought rather foolish. of the Church there.243 but poor and common folk who began in the humbler occupations. What was of greater gain to the city of the Romans. as a matter of course. and it was the same way with all the others. 15.e. ‘meanness of lineage’. wealth. their voice went out through all the earth. what slaves. brothers. 11. Cf.1. not many noble were called. or is slighted because of humble parentage. and their words to the ends of the world (Ps 18. as a shadow that happens to follow along. Church History 3.7–9)—although if some of these should.10). Peter was a ﬁsherman. what property ministering to luxury through the accumulation of wealth? No. or worldly lustre among the virtues of a bishop (cf.1.246 Though they had immensely wealthy satraps among them. 246 I. So also was the sublime John. 245 I. Contrast his sensitivity to his social status in Letter 1.26–27). 12.18). see Ruﬁnus.
.1. Paul was a tent-maker. because having nothing he wholly had God (cf. 13.1–7. even if he is less than the lofty and more illustrious (cf.244 But who knows whether the horn of anointing is not poured out by grace upon such a one. without a table—yet he was richer than those who have all these things. or possibly ‘bodily deformity’. Consider.e. 1 Tim 3. that Thomas was the apostle of the Parthians—who at that time ruled eastern Syria. 244 s≈matikhn dusg°neian. but God chose the foolish things of the world (1 Cor 1. 16. Matthew a tax-collector. or Peter the ﬁsherman who had none of this world’s trappings to attract esteem? What house did he have. So also with the people of Mesopotamia. he says. we do not reject them. that not many wise after the ﬂesh. 1 Sam 10. Church History 11. 14. Origen’s statement in Eusebius.the pasquali collection
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look for high birth.11). Why the prophet Amos was a goat-herd. that in its beginnings245 it should take for its leadership some high-born and pompous senator of consular rank. attend your leaders. they approved Thomas as
243 It is noteworthy that Gregory discounts the social and cultural advantages he himself enjoys. and his brother Andrew was of the same trade. he was a stranger without a roof over his head. And yet for all that.5. not many mighty. But if not. Tit 1. Rom 10. as things appear to human eyes.

16. but to raise your zeal for the task that is before you to the height of the magniﬁcence of your city. and with us Cappadocians. 7. 2 vols (Bonn. 17. or perhaps across the Propontus. endowed it with many buildings and considered establishing it as the capital of the eastern Roman empire (cf. the fair form of its public buildings has disappeared. the Centurion who at the Passion confessed the divinity of the Lord (cf. The Emperor Diocletian chose to reside there. With the Cretans. 2 vols. There was a martyrion dedicated to him at Sandralis or Andrales near Tyana. 248 As Maraval remarks (Lettres 226 n.5). 2. Mt 27.250 but the city which consists in human beings—whether we consider the number or to the character of its inhabitants—is rising to a level with its ancient beauty. You know better than anyone else your own history. I think you also need to be looking for these qualities if you really mean to revive the ancient dignity of your church. Later traditions identiﬁed him as Longinus.247 though there were many at that time who came from illustrious families. and its magniﬁcent cathedral was ruined.8–10). Or.
. that with God’s help
247 This is the earliest record associating the centurion at the foot of the Cross with the evangelization of Cappadocia. and with the people of Jerusalem.1 (Krabinger 90–92). and D. Nicaea. who maintained horse studs248 and solemnized themselves with the ﬁrst seats in the Senate. It was a lucrative industry. see Socrates 2. and uses the aftermath of earthquakes as a vivid analogy of chaos in On the Soul and Resurrection 7.7.1–2. & tr. Lactantius. 2000). Sozomen 4.39. Persec. supplying the horses needed for the imperial cavalry and postal service. Gregory also mentions this tragedy in Against Fate GNO 3. 18. how in ancient times. in which its bishop. Berges and J. See M.1–2. Tit 1. In the present situation.249 you had the kingship and no city was more eminent than yours. Tyana: Archäologisch-historische Untersuchungen zum südwestlichen Kappadokien.54). At present. perished. Aubineau (ed. now renamed Constantinople. De Mort. Cecropius. 1978. Nicomedia had once been the seat of the kings of Bithynia.779–804. It would therefore not be ﬁtting for you to maintain a purpose meaner than the blessings that are now yours. 250 On 28 August 358 Nicomedia suﬀered a major earthquake. it is true. it was Titus (cf. and described his martyrdom and subsequent cult in Caesarea.1–8 and Libanius. 1) the Cappadocian highlands were renowned in late antiquity for horse-breeding. 61.166
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their leader in preference to any of their own. Subsidia Hagiographica 59 (Brussels.e. 17. Ammianus Marcellinus. 249 i. 1980). Hist. a native of Cappadocia. James.) Les homélies festales d’Hésychius de Jérusalem.16.2/52. Nollé. 54. before the city near you ﬂourished. And one may ﬁnd throughout the whole Church that those who are great according to God are preferred to those who are illustrious according to this world. Byzantion.

. together with the ‘heat’ (z°sei) of the Holy Spirit.e of a bishop.40). 252 eﬁw ﬂervsÊnhw. have occurred before now through the ineptitude of their leaders! Who can reckon how many of the disasters before our eyes might not have happened. For it is disgraceful.2). For it is impossible that one who has been apprenticed to the art of the smith should fulﬁl his training by weaving. For as the teacher is. with all their members. expects that not only the sacraments but their minister. Sketch of the Aim of True Asceticism (de instituto Christiano). At this period ﬂervsÊnh. tup≈sevw. or that one who has been taught to work at the loom should turn out an orator or a surveyor. and is less commonly applied to presbyters. that anyone proposed for the episcopacy252 should be irreproachable? And what is the advantage so great in this that it could sum up the good? 24. Rom 12. brothers. we do not entrust the iron for being made into vessels to those who know nothing about the matter. be ﬁlled with the ‘zest’. Acts 9. 253 On this topic. see also Gregory’s treatises On Perfection. Ought we not also trust souls to one who is well skilled in softening them through the fervour of the Holy Spirit (Acts 18. It is for this reason it says. had there been at least some modicum of the helmsman’s skill in these leaders? 21.25. so is the disciple fashioned to be. i. ‘heat’. often refers to the ‘high-priesthood’. Gregory. No. the bishop himself. 2 Tim 3. Is this all that the Apostle cares about.15. Gregory applies the analogy of the metal-worker to the ministry of bishops: the bishop fashions the faithful with the ‘impress’ or ‘seal’ of the sacraments which are instilled with the Logos/Word (logik«n). and altogether bizarre.11) and who by the impress of rational implements251 may perfect each of you as a chosen and useful vessel (cf. however.253
251 d‹a t∞w t«n logik«n Ùrgãnvn. but to those who know the art of the smith. On the Christian Profession. 23. the disciple transfers to himself the pattern he sees in his master.the pasquali collection
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you may discover such a one to lead the people as will prove himself not unworthy of you. How many shipwrecks of churches. that although no sailor ever becomes a helmsman unless he is skilled in steering. like sacerdotium in Latin. every disciple shall be fashioned like his teacher (Lk 6. But he knows that the subordinate is conformed to his superior and that the virtues of the leader become those of his followers. 19. The divine Apostle commands that we exercise such forethought when in the Epistle to Timothy he lays down a law for all his hearers when he says that a Bishop must be irreproachable (1 Tim 3. ‘fervour’ of the Spirit.2)? 22. yet one who sits at the helm of the church does not know how to safely bring into the harbour of God the souls of those who sail with him! 20. Look.

Mt 6. which would the thirsty prefer to supply his need: to see bare stones beautifully laid out. who is the Word of God. for how shall they who are striving to become like such a one fail to be as he is? 27.22. Of what beneﬁt to the thirsty is a magniﬁcent aqueduct if there is no water in it? However symmetrical the placement of columns. brothers. 28a. are like consuls compelled to rule by a mighty Emperor—no other. you should employ the lamp of the Spirit in your search (cf. Cf. we put those whose deep humility makes them backward in accepting this general charge of the Church except under constraint. then superior of the monastery at Annisa. Indeed. But instead of selecting the ambitious among them. If then. Our best rulers then.168
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25. or at all events strictly in accordance with the Divine enactment. What then brothers? Is it possible to become humble-minded. they should have no more to do with him than with a dry aqueduct.75: ‘We summon to the magistracies of these churches men of ability and good life. than the Son of God. Instead. Peter. if he does not possess in his own life the qualities required. Lk 11.8) seeking out as best you can a garden enclosed. we are persuaded.33–34. calm in manner. if these qualities have not been seen in the teacher? 26. even if it ﬂowed from a wooden pipe. Accordingly. if a man boasts of his friends or preens himself on the list of his honours or tallies his multiple annual proﬁts or is puﬀed up at the thought of his ancestry or brags on all sides in his conceit. On the contrary. Contra Celsum. or to ﬁnd a spring. It is not that Christians wish to escape all public responsibility that they keep themselves away from such things.35). 15. Origen. with all their variegated form bearing the pediment aloft. moderate. 8.
254 This is exactly what was accomplished when Gregory’s brother. wise in things divine and trained to virtue and fairness in one’s ways. a fountain sealed (Sg 4.254 as the Scripture says. superior to the love of money-making. these magistracies in the assembly of God’s nation rule well. the grace that is in him will become the common possession of the whole church. so that when through the laying on of hands the garden of delight is opened and the water of the fountain is unstopped (cf. Ez 36. I do not know how anyone can become spiritual who has done his learning in a school of worldliness.’
. they are not because of that to meddle with secular law-making. was chosen as bishop and metropolitan of Sebasteia. They wish instead to reserve themselves for the higher and more urgent responsibilities (énagkaiot°r& leitourg¤&) of God’s Church.12). those who look to piety should pay no attention to outward appearance. provided only that the stream it pours forth is clear and drinkable? 28.

argued that the letter was written at Sebasteia in 380.: Letter 14. ed. On the Holy Spirit. Mélanges Henri de Lubac (Paris.: PFV. May there be such a happy outcome among you that we can boast and you ﬁnd delight and the God of all be gloriﬁed. But we trust in the Lord that this is how it will turn out. 1961). ‘Conspiratio chez Grégoire de Nysse’.255 preferring to your own wishes the will of our Lord Jesus Christ concerning what is good and well-pleasing and perfect (Rom 12. 376–378. tr. May the Lord grant that such a one may soon be found among you: one who will be a chosen vessel (Acts 9. Pasquali258 however.
. who found plenty of fault in the liturgical gestures and even the dress of the Catholics. Letter 18 To Otreius Bishop of Melitene256
Earlier opinion favoured the writing of this letter in the mid 370s. see the notes prefacing letter 10.257 Thus the view was taken that this letter shows Gregory’s circumstances during his exile. On the addressee Otreius. missing in V. Zaccagni thought that the ‘war’ and the carping criticism here lamented.15). 295–308. 76. is a term with rich associations in Gregory’s thought.2). . Daniélou. studied by J. L’homme devant Dieu . 258 Pasquali. Le Lettere.9). towards the end. How beautiful are the likenesses of beautiful things when they preserve distinctly in themselves the character and form of the arche255 Maraval notes (Lettres 233 n. p. in the same tumultuous circumstances reported in letters 19 and 22.1. 257 Cf. then letter 18 was evidently written before letter 10. 58–61. . Basil. 1) that sumpno¤a. GNO 8. if you are indeed resolved to seek together the common good through the cooperation of minds having but a single desire. The letter aﬀords us a precious glimpse of Gregory’s ordinary daily life at Nyssa (18. to whom belongs the glory for ever and ever. NPNF. and during his conﬁnement at Sebasteia (18. because in that letter he is exultant at the news of an impending visit of Otreius. Maraval concurs. Bishop of Melitene 259 1.
To Otreius. a pillar and foundation of the Truth (1 Tim 3. referred to Eustathius of Sebasteia and his circle. 538–539. whereas here he is delighted simply to have written communication.5).15). ‘shared aspiration’. The passage is a good example of Gregory’s use of redundancy: the same idea is expressed in three diﬀerent ways. 256 Mss.the pasquali collection
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29. Thus the letter is best situated or the culminating events of mid 379-mid 380. 259 toË aÈtoË Ùtrh¤v §piskÒpv melithn∞w F. If letters 10 and 18 were written in the same circumstances. toË aÈtoË Ùtr°i////on §p¤skopon in the margin of P.

They are translated here as ‘and place all our hopes in it’. Maraval (236. for the present at any rate. which only kindled the desire to enjoy it all the more. 5. For this reason. There was no satiety in the draught. 1) laments the absence of four words from their construction which are present in the three codices. Again and again I took your letter into my hands for the pleasure of it and went though it from beginning to end. We are persuaded therefore that it is impossible that our enjoyment of your goodness. The more we take our ﬁll of your blessings.
. and that we look to the healing power of your holy prayers which already supports our soul slumped as it is beneath a barrage of misfortunes. applied to my eyes like some healing remedy. You ﬁlled it with honey. just as the unbroken enjoyment of health does not hinder our desire for this too.260 Yet we are. if anyone is. as the Gospel says in one place. For in the sweetness of your letter I beheld the most distinct image of your truly beautiful soul. since you are in all else and especially to us. P. bereft of our dearest. and from the friendliness of your letter. kindly and genuine—you will certainly believe me when I say that the grace of your letter. which we have often known face to face and now by letter.1). Jaeger/Pasquali have restored it with help from In his own edition. I fancied I was looking at you in person and enjoying the good cheer in your eyes. n. 3.34). For when we reﬂect that we are embroiled in wars. and we place all our hopes in it that the suﬀering of our soul shall be quickly and completely healed. should ever reach the point of satiety. so in a way it is with us. the more we thirst for them.170
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typal beauty! 2. But just as they suﬀer who from some cause thirst unquenchably. since satiety can no more spoil the pleasure than it can of any other pleasure in things beautiful and precious by nature. For our constant participation in the sun does not blunt our longing to behold it. in such a situation that we spare the ears of your goodness and bury the truth in silence. from the abundance of the heart (Mt 12. that we might not drag those who truly love us into fellowship with our misfortunes. 4. and that we were forced to leave behind our children
260 The text is disturbed. staunched my ever-ﬂowing fountain of tears ( Jer 9. But that you may not suppose our language to be a kind of fawning and lying ﬂattery—and surely you will not suppose that.

9. or sack. 265 ı sãkkow. pallet. But coming late to the school of such mischief and knavery. and how dearly prized through long habit. 7. . associates.24 et al. being retentive of what they have learned and inventive of what they have not learned. But if you care to inquire into our private domestic arrangements you will ﬁnd other troubles besides: a hut numbingly cold. accompanies them. consider for yourself how far otherwise are all that I have instead of these. of whom his own sister. PF. skirmishing at a distance. refers metaphorically to Gregory’s church of Nyssa. A vast mammon. and Maraval concurs. a wife joined to us by law. we are constantly blushing at our ineptitude for the study. 263 édelfo¤. The teachers of this wisdom who are ranged against us are capable. sackcloth: for storage of grain? 266 An Aramaic word from the Gospels (Mt 6. They band together to make war. 262 o‰kow kexaritvm°now. as with children. who restored the text. I begin to live again. regrouping in a phalanx. First they lay ambush by stealth. and besides these a dearly loved home. i.the pasquali collection
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whom we were deemed worthy to bear to God in spiritual labour-pains (cf. hearth. i. on one side exacting tribute from those under his sway. the tears—how sweet they are.) = ‘wealth’. 1 Cor 4. an adelphe both in the ﬂesh and in the spirit. on the other striking those who come forward to meet him. something strewn or stuﬀed with straw. . the sacking. table. surrounding themselves with allies on every side.263 relatives. and hence ‘bed’. 6. Le Lettere 78–79.e the members of his ﬂock at Nyssa. meaning the children joined to Gregory by law.262 brothers. I need not write to you who know full well.261 who in the midst of danger and aﬄictions. a life examined censoriously
261 sÊmbiow nÒmƒ sunhrmosm°nh. But that I might not burden you in the telling. Now that I approach the end of my life. 2 Cor 8. perhaps a mattress. the prayer. for I must learn the elaborate manners which are now the fashion.
. see letter 6.266 invincible in power.e.. friends. Theosebia. 8. V lacks the sÊmbiow and has sunhrmosm°na. 264 stibãw.2). was one.264 the bench.14–15). . Pasquali. gloom. For a beautiful demonstration of the loyalty of Gregory’s church. during the times of trial showed us her aﬀection (cf. familiars. monks and virgins (see letter 6. and then at a signal. store-room.10). conﬁnement and all such advantages. advancing before them like some ambidextrous combatant ﬁghting with both hands as he leads the battle. considers that the phrase.265 the secluded corner. then they take by surprise with exaggerations.

12) and travelled
267 eﬁ mØ diekp¤ptoi t∞w z≈n∞w ≤m«n tÚ xit≈nion. we will bear with the abundance of present annoyances in the hope of always sharing in your goodness.272 Nevertheless it took many years for the historical implications of the present letter to percolate through to historians and patristic scholars. and if we have not pulled one of its borders to the shoulders269—the omission of any of these becomes a pretext for those who make war against us. On such grounds they gather for battle against us. And if there is not an audible breathing. These were absent from V which until that time had formed the basis of Gregory’s published letters. the look. see GNaz Or. 270 ‘katÉ êndrow ka‹ dÆmouw ka‹ §sxat¤aw. the way of draping one’s cloak. Never cease then in showing us such favours. shoulders’.
. B.: PF. 10. even to the least of places. Letter 19 To a certain John especially on Macrina271
This most important letter was edited for the ﬁrst time in 1731 by J. . 43. 268 ± diplo¤w. Of course. man by man. LXXXV.270 11. Diekamp elucidated the proper sequence: that just as Gregory had responded to the embassy from Ibora (19.: GNO. 273 In his essay ‘Die Wahl Gregors von Nyssa zum Metropoliten von Sebaste im Jahre 380’. Theologische Quartalschrift 90 (1908). one cannot always be faring well or ill. Presumbly this means the belt is to be drawn in and not left loose.73.172
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by everyone: the voice. town by town. the movement of the hands. . 272 See Pasquali. 8. is found only in P. Carraciolo. and if the tunic does not come out from our belt267 and especially if the belt itself is not used. since life for everyone is usually a mix of contrarieties. But if by God’s grace you continue to stand by us. 271 Mss. For that the credit is due to Franz Diekamp. and if our mantle268 does not hang freely by the sides. through which you will both comfort us and prepare for yourself an ampler reward for keeping the commandments. a bishop’s cloak. where Basil is compared with Samuel. 269 ‘and if we have not . the position of the feet and all such matter for busybodies. 384–401. 62–68. as one of the seven letters 19–25 he had discovered in F.273 Earlier commentators had vaguely supposed that Gregory had somehow been elected bishop of Ibora.2. Basil discusses the proper use of the belt for monks in Longer Responses 23. and if from time to time a protracted groan is not emitted with the breathing. ed.

is much engaged in Church aﬀairs in ‘the city’. Having heard some strange rumours.13b) and travelled there to undertake the same sort of mission. It would be an exciting thought that it might be a youngish John Chrysostom. and then somehow the military authorities were called in to restrain the uproar and keep him in Sebasteia. At any rate Gregory seems to have met the present John there during the council of Neo-nicene bishops in 379. so too he responded to an embassy from Sebasteia (19. John. But we may be sure that he would have been very interested to hear of Macrina’s ascetic life-style. ‘Gregory was bishop and prisoner in Sebasteia. Le Lettere 94.the pasquali collection
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there to supervise the election of a new bishop. In 379 he may have been barely returning from his ascetic years in the caves outside Antioch and was not yet even a deacon.274 For more on the chronology of this letter.20). It is clear enough that he found himself elected metropolitan bishop of Sebasteia and that this took him completely by surprise. The addressee. and letter 19 is his reply. occasionally (and characteristically) slipping into the singular. Even so we could wish he had been more speciﬁc about the motives and actions behind the uproar in Sebasteia that led to his conﬁnement. sometime student of Libanius and protégé of Bishop Meletius. No other of Gregory’s letters is so rich with biographical and chronological material. refers to a return from his enforced stay in Sebasteia. since Gregory speaks of ‘your church’ (19. and in 10c of his ﬁrst visit to his fatherland after his ‘return journey from Antioch’. exactly between Winter and Spring’. He clearly intended this letter as a kind of bulletin of his aﬀairs to someone well placed in church aﬀairs. he wrote to Gregory to ask what was happening. according to Diekamp. He is either a bishop or someone in senior church administration. the letter was written from Sebasteia in the ﬁrst half of 380. The present John is concerned that he has had no communication from Gregory in the many months since their meeting. for the last part of the letter almost descends into incoherence as he laments the calamity that has overtaken him.
. It was at Sebasteia that all the lamentable events reported in the latter part of this letter took place. meant to correct any misinformation. But it seems too early in Chrysostom’s career. see the Introduction. He seems to have refused or resisted the appointment. The style is somewhat formal—Gregory most often uses the plural of modesty of himself. ‘Gregory’s return from exile and rise in Church aﬀairs’. He expects John to share it with others for the ‘common good’. There seems to have been at least a fourfold strife between the Pneumatomachian partisans of
274
Pasquali. while Gregory was still constrained in the circumstances described at the latter part of the letter. It is not so evident whether he was resident of Antioch itself. The letter eventually reached Gregory in Sebasteia. since in 10a he speaks of having ‘left your region’ to return to Cappadocia and thence to Macrina’s death-bed. He clariﬁed that the ‘return from Armenia’ of which Gregory speaks in his letter 29 to Peter. Thus.

and the shining forehead above the eyebrows. It is the earliest documentation we have of Macrina’s existence. One conjectures that a later copyist read t∞w édelf∞w Makr¤nhw. For their friends. but thinking the possessive needed to be made more explicit. written less than a year after her death. with the result that their intention to honour their friend becomes. who. Then. when they copy the form as an image. her conversations with him which were so formative and strengthening of his religious spirit. Gregory continues shortly using the plural: dioryoËntai. though they accomplish. which became corrupted. The toiaÊthw does not make much sense. which in classical Greek was perfectly suﬃcient to convey
275
‘of his sister’. Def.6–10. Basil’s analogy of the portrait painter in Letter 2. For unless the one presented to the painter for imitation has these qualities by nature. the orthodox minded Sebasteians. in a way. especially on the way of life and the character of his sister Macrina. added a note such as toË aÈtoË.174
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Eusthathius.275 Introduction: the analogy of the painter 1. For when in their imitation they correct nature—so they think—by disguising the unsightly form beneath a bright display of colours on the panel. 2a. 1. there is no proﬁt in the light brown hair arching high over the forehead and glinting with highlights. 19. and above all his providential participation in her dying hours had a profound aﬀect on him. Cf. he set out to make his remarkable sister better known to the world. It only needed time to absorb and reﬂect on these events. the corners of the eyes and the eyebrows picked out with black. through this ‘improved’ imitation.
To a certain John on certain subjects. rather than tina P (someone). 276 Reading tinaw with F.
. her way of life and her funeral led by Gregory. are keen to bestow a kind of proﬁtless honour even on the uglier of their friends. the Governor. he
§pistolØ toË aÈtoË prÚw tina ÉIvãnnhn per¤ tinvn Ípoy°sevn ka‹ per‹ t∞w diagvg∞w ka‹ katastãsevw t∞w toiaÊthw édelf∞w aÈtoË Maxr¤nhw F. the curve of the eyelids. the bloom on the lips and the ﬂush of the cheeks. they change the character. the opposite of what they wish. I know of some276 painters. when the occasion oﬀered. and his own unwillingness. is a foreshadowing and a promise of the Life of Macrina. The brief but intense cameo of Gregory’s sister. and whatever else of the kind that contributes to beauty of form. toË aÈtoË P.17. the very reason why the friend can no longer be seen in the image at all. The witness of her lifestyle.

. and so shows up the excess of the attempted honour.278 4.the pasquali collection
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gains nothing from the benevolent gesture. happens when anyone bestows ﬂatteries on someone he loves in order to gain the praises of friendship. 3b.279 know then. Gregory seems to be conﬂating the famous saying gn«yi sautÒn (know yourself !). For this is what the word of the proverb also recommends. i. Prov 13. 3a.> 278 katå tÚn ¶jvyen lÒgon. 2b. 279 »fel∞sai ti tÚ ko‹non. for so the inscription informed me. even if those witnesses may be reliable in all else. and in order by such a task to beneﬁt the common good.10 oﬁ de §aut«n §pignvmonew sofo¤ (those who discern themselves are wise).e.
277 Pasquali considers there is a lacuna at this point. that they come to recognize themselves (cf. What then do I mean by speaking this way? I saw in the letter of your charity. brightly decked all round. But when I looked into my own life in exact detail as in a mirror. since you believed that some share of this was in us. I know that you are thoroughly mistaken. 277I therefore thought it better that you learn what concerns me from myself rather than be misled by other witnesses. but as someone might be like who is in every way perfect. with Proverbs 13. He proposed as the sense of what Gregory may have written: <But though you are a man of such authority. So he depicts him in words not as he is. carved on the Temple at Delphi. Instead. but by these extravagant praises he does not so much dignify his friend as rebuke him for contradicting the word by his life and as revealing himself to be other than he is supposed to be. it seems to me. a kind of human sculpture. through the painter’s art the panel displays a pleasant face. but the friend’s face discloses itself as otherwise. ﬁnely wrought in sharpest detail—and its name was myself. that you have no other motive for your love but that of virtue alone.10 Sept) who are willing to know themselves according to the word from without. this letter to John is a newsletter to be shared with others. He may sketch the upright life in words. I surmised that in this way you were displaying your love of goodness. I knew that I was far removed from the verbal description. The same thing. You gave the most evident proof of the uprightness of your dispositions. That I may not appear to be secretly courting praise by declining it. for. having deemed that this is what I was like. But so much for this. and given that you bid us put some eﬀort into giving an answer to your enquiries about our aﬀairs. this is what you loved. you counted us among the most genuine of your friends. and.

Such was her freedom282 towards God that she was for us a strong tower (Ps 60. The death of Emmelia their mother (370) triggered a renewed aﬀection. commissioned Gregory to write On Virginity in 370–371. But if it is not an imposition to be rewarding those who love me with gloomy tales.19). 3. Gregory very much regards Macrina as a taking her place towards him. he comes upon a snake lying in wait to bite him. The VSM conﬁrms that she ‘honoured his priesthood (= episcopacy)’. 282 parrhs¤an. daring conﬁdence.1. newly a bishop.2 (GNO 8. We had a sister who was for us a teacher of how to live.176
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that lately I have not had much less leisure than the one of whom one of the prophets speaks (cf. ease of access.254–257. who. Our sister Macrina 6. which was by now a monastic community. Amos 5. this means that Macrina was Gregory’s teacher in the principles of the Christian ascetic life. found himself in the mouth of a bear. his last visit to her may be dated to late 371. having with much struggle emerged from this danger too and rested himself against the wall. 2. The ordination to the presbyterate of Peter. 2.280 5. I will brieﬂy set out for you the sorry story. Basil.
. Gregory’s own reluctant ordination to the episcopacy by Basil (c. The waves of distresses have so overlapped each another.386–387. Since Gregory was coming from the married life and from a civil career. 190–192). prayer and great love. and then. the youngest in the family and head of the house of men at Annisa took place soon after. To judge from VSM 17. Def. having grappled with a lion and scarcely extracted himself from its jaws and the slashing of its claws. when the relationship between sister and brother seems to have been renewed and strengthened. lit. 4. but the deep freedom of someone who had paid the interior cost through a life of selfdenial. Since b¤ow frequently means ‘way of life’. This may be linked to four more or less contemporaneous events which may have been occasions of contact: 1. Something like this has been the relentless succession of troubles that have befallen us. This surely was the moment when he visited Macrina in Annisa and received from her instruction and encouragement in his new course.4) and a shield of favour
280 For the same idea of one wave of troubles succeeding another. boldness. they seem to be continually preparing to overtop by a little what had already overtaken us. 4a. ‘freedom of speech’. indeed she took Emmelia’s place as the head of the household at Annisa. he may well have thought to consult Macrina as his ‘Teacher’ in Christian asceticism. 281 toË b¤ou didãskalow. late 371). Maraval. 370.281 a mother in place of our mother. see Basil’s Letter 123. at the very moment he thought to be escaping. This is not the illusory ‘freedom’ towards God of mindless presumption.

382. VSM 13. the night showed itself active with the deeds of light (cf. 9. Maraval 192) says.. the actual word is from a Platonic dialogue (Phaedrus 245C) 286 Cf. 285 a§ik¤nhtow. but it may be doubted that it was a ten days journey from Caesarea to Annisa ‘with haste’. the ear attentive to divine things. ‘what human eloquence could bring this kind of life before your eyes?’ 287 ÉEpeidØ to¤nun §p°sthn parÉ Ím«n to›w KappadÒkaiw.22. 1 Cor 4. The psalmodies resounded in her house at all times night and day. 7.1. Gregory may mean that he has just come through the Taurus mountains and reached Cappadocia. Ps 79.12–13. no doubt south-west through Amasea. In which case the ten days journey was from south of Caesarea to Pontus. VSM 13. With her there was no distinction between night and day. He did not go to Nyssa. though Gregory is thinking of Psalm 118. the stomach. It lay on the great Pontic Road about a day’s journey west of Neoceasarea. after I left your region. perhaps at Tyana.284 the mouth meditating the law at all times (Ps 1. through her freedom towards God that came of her way of life. The parÉ Ím«n refers to his departure ‘from’ John.8) and day imitated the tranquillity of night through serenity of life. The family estate of Annisa. Eph 5. Euripides. Gregory tends to use the related term §sxat¤a.70).11) and a name of utter assurance. Peter had set out to fetch him but missed him. You would have seen a reality incredible even to the eyes: the ﬂesh not seeking its own. the hand ever active285 with the commandments (cf. By ‘the Cappadocians’. transformed by Macrina into a monastery. 9. 14.13) as the Scripture says. since as VSM 18. and a fortiﬁed city (Ps 30. Gal 4. I had halted among the Cappadocians.283 having exiled herself from the life of human beings. 8. just as we expect in the Resurrection. Rather. because he had taken a diﬀerent route.1. 59.3 (GNO 8.15. that it surpasses description in words. overlooking the fertile plain of the Phanaroea.3 ‘the metropolis of the Cappadocians’). Gathered around her was a great choir of virgins whom she had brought forth by her spiritual labourpains (cf. 284 Cf. Rom 12.6 ibid. Well then.387.19) and guided towards perfection through her consummate care.1. She dwelt in a remote part of Pontus.287 when unexpectedly I received some disturbing news
283 toË PÒntou tå ¶sxata. having ﬁnished with its own impulses. was not so ‘remote’ in the sense of physically diﬃcult of access.48). How indeed could one bring before the eyes a reality that transcends description in words?286 10a. Maraval 176–178) …w Íperba¤nein t∞n §k t«n lÒgvn ÍpografÆn. 118.the pasquali collection
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(Ps 5.
. to mean ‘retreat’ or religious solitude.2.1 (GNO 8.6) to the measure of a cup. Jer. while she herself imitated the life of angels in a human body. Ps 118. tØn toiaÊthn diagvg∞n t¤w ín ÍpÉ ˆcin égãgoi lÒgow ényr≈pinow. streams of tears poured out (cf. Iphigeneia in Tauris 1106. Most readers have assumed he means Caesarea (cf.

to put down the disease everywhere. Gregory returned south to Nyssa. 291 Íp°strefon. The VSM makes it clear that on the way back he passed through Sebastopolis. Maraval. 294 Gregory’s underminers have made progress during his protracted absence.386–387. 12. but alas. Gregory’s ministry in Pontus 11. This is proof positive that neither Gregory nor his siblings were born in Cappadocia. At the tenth year289 I saw her whom I so longed to see.288 There was a ten days’ journey between us. when Macrina took her place for him? 290 The references here are singular. the desire grew in him to visit his sister. before I had digested this misfortune.1. Ibora is a city situated in the mountains of Pontus. especially 237. So it was with me. having stealthily sown the sickness of the heresies usual among them in various places of my church. Gregory no doubt is using a quick reckoning perhaps rounding it to the decade.
. all at once the stream dries up before his eyes and he ﬁnds the water turned to dust. where he simply says that as he returned from Antioch. Or could it mean a decade since his mother’s death.178
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of her. 292 taËta moi t∞w Patr¤dow metå tØn §pãnodÒn mou tØn §j ÉAntioxe¤aw eﬁsitÆria. Next. It has been disposed towards us and towards
288 This news is not mentioned at VSM 17 (GNO 8.e. but before I could satisfy my longing.2 (GNO 8. i. provided me with no small struggle. 289 On the face of it. with God’s help. Then other events followed these. 190–192).291 Such was my ﬁrst visit to my fatherland292 after my return journey from Antioch. so I covered the whole distance as quickly as possible and at last reached Pontus where I saw her and she saw me. on the third day I buried her and returned on my way.294 We were barely able.e. See Basil. Rather than Marcellians. 10c. 386–387.1. 293 i. 10b. to the west of Nyssa. whereas in the VSM he is much more deliberate in his calculation. who was for me290 in place of a mother and a teacher and every good.10. and that he was disturbed by a foreboding dream a day before he reached Annisa. personal to Gregory himself. that it was just short of eight years since he had last seen his sister. He runs up to a spring. before he has touched the water. Maraval 190–192). the ‘Galatians’ here are more likely Homoians and Arianizers who since the demise of Valens have lost their political ascendancy with. moi. But it was the same as a traveller at noon whose body is exhausted from the sun. before he has cooled his tongue. Letter 237. 239 and 232. the Galatians293 who were neighbours of my church. this conﬂicts with the data in VSM 17.

Concilia III. See Maraval. For human beings put up with other evils well enough once they become used to them. The events that followed are worthy of silence and wordless groans (cf. Gregory had journeyed up to Pontus again to help sort out the aﬀairs of Ibora’s church. 300 parå toË plÆyouw t«n Sebasten«n. but as time has gone by. the local bishop who had so recently presided with Gregory at Macrina’s funeral and whom he had named.298 we were attending to the proper order for the church among them.e. Uproar in the electoral synod at Sebasteia 14. 296 ka‹ toË §piskopoËntow aÈthn prosfãtvw ÈpejelyÒntow tÚn b¤on. 15. fallings at the feet. with God as coworker (cf.301 The vote. 298 sunerg¤& YeoË. 299 During this mission Gregory installed Pansophius as the bishop of Ibora.300 expecting us to forestall a take-over there by the heretics.297 and. lamentations. 13b.the pasquali collection
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the sound faith from ancient times. Rom 8. why does Gregory not advert to his identity here? Rather. Now its bishop having lately departed from this life295 the whole body sent an embassy petitioning us not to overlook it. 572A). 2 Cor 6. had been the bishop of Ibora.296 delivered as it was into the hands of enemies and being torn apart.1). I was with the other bishops who were called together for this very purpose: that I might receive their votes for the laying on of hands. the credentials of Magnopolis as the seat perhaps of a chorepiscopus might be preferred. supplications and all such things through which there has come upon us the present train of evils.299 there promptly came upon us in that place like-minded representatives from the main body of Sebasteians. demonstrated that Gregory wrote the letter from Sebasteia in 380. ‘Die Wahl’. Evidently Gregory presided over an electoral synod for the see of Sebasteia. 301 …w cÆfouw Íp¢r xeiroton¤aw dejÒmenow. 297 §peidØ går §genÒmeya katå tÚn PÒnton. pandhme‹ prÚw ≤mçw §presbeÊsanto. Diekamp. in accordance with the procedure. 24–26. Well then. who attended the Council of Constantinople in 381 (Mansi.26) and unending grief and sorrow unabating with the passage of time. Vigiliae Christianae 42 (1988).
295 If Araxius. There were tears. left vacant by the death of Eustathius. i. 13a. From this circumstance and the sequel. ‘Un correspondent de Grégoire de Nazianze identiﬁé: Pansophios d’Ibora’. For since we had come to Pontus. the evils here have only gown worse through the invention of new ones still more intolerable. Here
. It was much nearer Annisa than was Ibora.

where an eagle. Gregory Nazianzen. Much remedial work was needed in the Church in Sebasteia. pressures were brought to bear. 2 Kg 25). Aeschylus. an allusion to Aeschylus’ lost play. See Diekamp. until we were cast into the evils of Babylon (cf. that with them
he is acting as scrutineer of the votes. canonical provisions in Diekamp. 302 This was potentially uncanonical. 303 to›w §mautoË ptero›w èliskÒmenow. 1985). though Maraval thinks the existing text can be accounted for.1. The Myrmidons. Gregory is being polite here by not naming the Armenians as such. They were ignorant moreover. The survival of the fragment attests it was a famous saying.302 Yes. Basil himself seems to allude to it in the Great Asketikon Longer Responses 28. Gregory is taken into (protective? coercive?) custody. ‘Die Wahl’. a military detachment. and so practised in inventiveness for evil in the stealthy manner of wild beasts. 18. Their malady made war against those who were attempting to cure it. and the count himself appointed over them campaigning against us304 and moving the authority of the governor against us and assembling every pretext for this tyranny against us. See the long discussion of 4th cent. fallings at the feet. sees its feathering on the arrow and says: tãdÉ oÈx ÍpÉ êllvn. Fr. Thereupon dissensions broke out. The population of Armenia Minor was a mix of both Greek speakers and Armenian speakers. 3. but by our own feathers. and his hardened attitude to everything that Basil and the Cappadocian Neo-nicenes represented. éllå to›w aÍt«n ptero›w èliskÒmeya—‘so we are taken. which would have been especially evident at a congress of bishops and people from all parts of the province. The transfer of a bishop from one see to another was forbidden by canon 15 of the Council of Nicaea. that he acted to enforce the election against Gregory’s will? 305 This refers to the capture and deportation to Babylon of the people of Jerusalem (2 Kg 25). vol. in his Eulogy on Basil. It had been a centre of ecclesiastical trouble for most of the 370s due to Eustathius’ arianizing politics. in my naiveté. with the Babylonians as the ﬁgure of the Sebasteians.’ See Stefan Radt. not by others’.180
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alas. (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck Ruprecht. Yet some canons did provide for exceptions to be made in the interests of the church.’
. 306 The reference is to Armenian. The trouble is still unresolved at the time of writing. his collaboration with the emperor Valens. wretched I. tears. 304 Does this mean. that in their case. takings into custody. 139. Oration 43. and in their speech306 rougher in voice and in their manner wilder than barbarians. ‘Die Wahl’. Pasquali marks a lacuna at this point. from where he writes the present letter. shot by an arrow. paradoxically. the disease only entrenched itself and became harder to dislodge.305 17. was for me. Tragicorum Graecorum Fragmenta. was taken by my own feathers!303 16. 391. With them there was so great a contrast in what concerns the faith with those of olden times. but too secretive and crafty.17 is more straightforward: ‘I do not ﬁnd the Armenians a candid race. 394–400. pp 252–256. The principle would be made a pretext in the following year (381) for ousting Gregory Nazianzen from Constantinople.

310 With reference to the ‘lotus-eaters’. as being nothing better than ochlocracy. vol. 5. tr. But if aﬀairs overwhelm you there—for I hear that your whole church detains you—you shall ﬁght with us well enough if you beg from God some release from the evils that assail us. that you might not judge our present delay in writing as indiﬀerence on our part.
308 307
. ‘urbanity’. to be rebuked for the worst vices becomes an occasion of popularity with the crowd.145–155 ‘most crafty of men’. arrogance and roughness and callousness and uncouthness of speech are considered to be political savvy309 and some sort of love of the good. Homer. Then perhaps. Conclusion 19.308 or some other such characters we hear about in the histories. we shall not be reckoned as contributing nothing to the common good. king of Corinth.: Letter 15. Sisyphus. ‘elegance’.307 as of a Sisyphus or a Cercyon or a Sceiron. In
His inventiveness was of the empirical and useful kind. Cercyon and Sceiron were brigands put to death by Theseus. NPNF 2nd Ser. Such is their shamelessness. Indeed. There are undertows of Plato’s censure of Athenian ‘democracy’ here. 539–540. is called in Iliad 6.2. so bold their lying that they obstruct those who insist on the truth in this matter. His name was a byword for cunning. 309 politismÚw. ed.: PF. 68–72.: GNO 8. alternatively.93 ﬀ. ‘politesse’. irrationality and an appeal to lower instincts. all the same. But if. Letter 20 To Adelphius the scholasticus311
The addressee is the same Adelphius to whom Gregory Nazianzen wrote his letter 204 and perhaps also Libanius his letter 1049 (or 969). lend me yourself above all and the time for us to come together—provided the ‘lotus’ of the city310 does not charm you more than our aﬀection. who were always readier with falsehood than with any truth. With them.the pasquali collection
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it was not so much a case of an Archimedes. 311 Mss. We have avoided a letter of immoderate length and set out for you these few events out of many. you would like us to devote more time to these matters at a later stage. if God grants it and such leisure ever comes our way. For how is it possible for one in these circumstances to bear it equably when his own name is bandied about? 20. Odyssey 9.

the house is along one side of the triangle immediately facing the entrance. ‘Der Zwanzigste Brief des Gregors von Nyssa’. 66–91. According to Nicole Thierry. or at best a nominal catechumen. To establish a mood of shared light intimacy. The letter is a study in literary art oﬀered as a courteous compliment to Gregory’s absent host. or if within the estate. That impression is corroborated here. 125ﬀ.182
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Nazianzen’s letter Adelphius appears as a cultivated man of high social rank. J. since Gregory’s literary career was underway in that year and he was often in Caesarea that year. the same type of gift of which he speaks in letter 4. This is partly supported at the end of the letter where Gregory addresses him as logiÒthti.314
To Adelphius the Scholasticus315 1. considers that the description is of more of a speciﬁcally Greek type of villa with a peristyle rather than a Roman villa with a traditional atrium. Geographica Byzantina H. The oratory to the Martyrs Gregory mentions here may have been at the entrance of the town rather than on the estate. It is diﬃcult to date precisely. in this case of Adelphius’ country estate. Journal of Roman Archaeology 2 (1989).) Byzantinia Sorbonensia-3 (Paris: Publications de la Sorbonne. 101–110. 20’. Le Lettere. Pasquali312 compares at length the villa described here with the Roman country villas described by Pliny the Younger in Letters 2. 316 §k t«n ﬁer«n OÈan≈tvn. Cappadoce’. a day’s journey west of Caesarea. Adelphius became a consular Galatiae in the year 392. In stylistic terms it comprises one long ecphrasis or graphic description. 315 toË aÈtoË prÚw éd°(lfion) sxolastikÒn P. probably a pagan. Adelphius was either not a Christian. ‘Avanos–Venasa. Gregory defaults to the common cultural stock of the upper classes: the traditional topoi of a classical education. but 379 seems reasonable. one day’s staging post
313 312
. two days’ staging posts to the south-east of Nyssa. To judge from the absence of any scriptural citation or mark of Christian piety in this letter. sponsored by Adelphius for his Christian workers and the local populace. He reconstructs the plan of the forecourt. ‘your eloquence’. ‘Roman villas in the Greek East and the Villa in Gregory of Nyssa Ep. 1981).6. Gregory writes this letter ostensibly on the ﬁrst day of a visit to Adelphius‘ country estate at Vanota on the River Halys. A sxolastikÒw was a kind of legal oﬃcer in the imperial service. showing an entry at one corner of a triangular portico which surrounds a triangular pool. 119–29. Vanota is be identiﬁed with modern Avanos. Hermes 74 (1939).3. Gregory could have easily fulﬁlled this invitation at any time on one of his journeys between Nyssa and Caesarea. 314 See also J. Rossiter. I write you this letter from the sacred Vanota. but not indisposed to Christianity and its worthy representatives.17 and 5.316 if I do not do the place an injustice by naming it in the local dialect—do the place
Pasquali. toË aÈtoË §p¤stola¤: œn ± paroËsa prÚw éd°lfion sxolastikÒn F. Ahrweiler (ed. Friedrich Müller313 however.

Athenaius Learned Banquet 5. ‘Avanos vu par Grégoire de Nysse au IVv siècle’. Hist. II. London 1893. 321 Sicyon. Descriptions of Greece 9. presumably a Celtic language. Ramsay.2. the Sicyonian plain321 is a triﬂe. a favourite word in Gregory’s vocabulary. what beauty is there in any of these places mentioned that Vanota does not also unfold before us in its own beauties? Whether one seek the natural loveliness of the place. see further Pasquali’s note in GNO 8. on the river Halys. reports the persistence of the language. but cf. long endured as a centre of artistic production.69–74. in many places—and have also apprehended many things through the word-pictures in the accounts of the ancient writers. For though I have till now seen many things—yes. because the name lacks elegance. It has need of the eye to appreciate its loveliness. and known for its fertile plains by the sea. it does not need any of the arts of beautiﬁcation. The Church in the Roman Empire before AD 170. or looks to what has been added by artiﬁce. famed for the sanctuary to the Muses in a glen near its summit. Coindoz and Chr. 320 Situated at the ends of the earth. so much has been done and done so well that they are able even to improve the deﬁciencies of nature. Pindar Olympian Odes 2. 2nd ed. M. Vanota is also the ‘Venasa’ of Gregory Nazianzen’s Letters 246–248 concerning the strange doings of the deacon Glycerius at the Christian synod which seems to be supplanting the pagan festival there. 443–464. PL 26. ‘Homer’ Batrachomyomachia 841. See Aristophanes Birds 968. ‘grace’). the resort of the ‘fourth race’ of demi-gods and heroes.21. 69) also gives a reference to Menander 7. (lit. not the more Christian term ëgiow. 318 xãriw. 319 A long mountain ridge in SW Boeotia. since Vanota had been the centre of a major Cappadocian cult to Zeus. See Hesiod. Gregory uses the pagan term ﬂerÒw. Horace Odes 1. 3.28–31. Jerome. Athough Vanota is in Cappadocia. 7. 2..7. the river Halys
west of Caesarea. 379B. Dossiers Histoire et Archéologie 121 (1997). second in importance only to the cult at Comana.
.2.. also Euripides Troades 214. See also M. For indeed this Galatian317 title does not hint at the loveliness318 of such a place. Diodoros Sikylos World History 8. 322 Gregory may be alluding to the account in Herodotus.11. 28–29 with photographs of the site.322 4. Pasquali (GNO 8. 69.30. the Galatian language seems to have spread east along the Halys valley. See Pausanias. The gifts with which nature favours the place as it adorns the land with unstudied grace are these: down below.219a. See W. Works and Days 170 ﬀ. the Isles of the Blest320 are a fable. Why. a town originally situated at the foot of a triangular acropolis to the west of Corinth. I mean. 5. Jouvenot. In Epist.184
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an injustice. The accounts of the Peneius are another poetic exaggeration—that river which they say overﬂows the banks on its sides and so with its rich current fertilizes for the Thessalians their far-famed plains. 317 Gregory testiﬁes to the continuance of ‘Galatian’. ad Gal. Your Helicon319 is nothing.129. Libanius mentions it in Letter 374. I consider that all I have seen and all I have heard a trumpery in comparison with the beauty here.

’ Identiﬁed by Thierry (‘Avanos–Venasa’. in descending the hill-side meets at its foot the work of husbandry. which the poet calls ‘far-seen with quivering leaves’.324 covered on all sides with oaks. like some ﬂare on a great beacon-tower. the stone-fruits.328 its variety and its many forms mingled and synthesized from diﬀerent strains? For just as those who paint ‘goat-stags’ and ‘centaurs’ and
In fact. by reddening its current with the soil. 327 Homer. a thickly wooded mountain extends itself along a great ridge. one part marked oﬀ from another by some elegant contrivance. Odyssey 9.115. Its structure was not yet complete. I myself marvelled at the size and colour of the peaches during a visit to Turkey in 2003. 11. whereas here it was possible to enjoy the grapes and take one’s ﬁll of their ripeness as much as one wished. Odyssey 7. For immediately vines spread out over the slopes and ﬂanks and hollows at the mountain’s base. but let not the beauties of Vanota be insulted by comparison with those. Kizil Irmak. its modern name. displaying the divinely sweet treasure of its grapes. worthy of ﬁnding some Homer to sing its praises beyond that of Ithacan Neritus.the pasquali collection
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with its banks beautiﬁes the place. which rather surprised me. On the left as we entered was the oratory326 which is being built to the martyrs. And what is one to say of the fruit of the peach-tree. the projections of the towers and a banquet in preparation among the wide and high-arched rows of plane-trees which crowned the entrance before the gates.323 6. Straight ahead of us on the road were the beauties of the house. yet it was resplendent all the same. means ‘red river. though now it is without forest cover. 8.325 7. One gains the impression that Gregory is speaking of the entire prunus genus. 325 Homer. 1584 m. because the neighbouring country was displaying its fruit still unripe. 328 t∞w Persik∞w Ùp≈raw. 326 §uktÆriow o‚kon. Then lying around the buildings are the Phaeacian gardens—10. the loveliness of the buildings shone out upon us. In this climate the season has also enhanced the scene. Up above. 122) as Idis Dag. 9. But the native forest. He never saw a pear whiter than newly-polished ivory. or ‘house for prayer’. for it still lacks a roof.. Then from afar. Homer never saw ‘the apple with shining fruit’327 that we have seen here.
324
323
.22. gleaming like a golden ribbon on a deep purple robe. which approaches the hue of its own blossom in the high colour of its skin. cladding all the lower region with colour as with a green mantle.

another into a walnut. 214. like well-trained young dogs.186
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the like commingle things of diﬀerent kinds. pointing out to us the details over which you had taken pains. Who could describe adequately in words the path under the overhanging vines and the sweet shade of the grapes and the new kind of wall made of lattices where the roses with their shoots and the vines with their trailers intertwine themselves together. one of the lads.330 mingled alike in name and in ﬂavour. But I do not think one can describe in words the arrangement of their planting and the artist’s orderly proportions. At least. Through all this time. Then they led me to a house where I was to take my rest. the pavement which supported the portico in a triangular shape331 was like a vestibule to the delights within.
329
. yet another into a clingfruit. against Apollinaris GNO 3. and the ﬁsh being bred there? 14.26. from the Latin duracinum. Nature tyrannized by art makes one into an almond. 330 tÚ dvrãkinon. as if they were showing courtesy to yourself through us. They did not slip away at the ﬁsherman’s touch. On Perfection GNO 8. lit up on all sides by the sun’s rays and decorated with a variety of paintings. so readily has nature fallen in with the wishes of those who make these arrangements.332 It had a lofty roof. showed us a sight that one does not often come across in nature: for he plunged into the depths and brought up at will whatever ﬁsh he had a mind to.1. 13. a term otherwise unattested in Greek.1/178.20–22. Lapped by the water. for truly such a marvel belongs to a draughtsman rather than to a tiller of the ground. Once inside. The portico was raised aloft to a great height above a deep pool. 12. 331 ≤ krÆpiw ≤ tØn stoån én°xousa trig≈nƒ t“ sxÆmati. and the cistern of water at the summit of this course. 16. 17. making themselves wiser than nature. 332 tØn toË trig≈nou probolØn died°xeto. each kind noted even more for their number than their beauty. these who have charge of your nobility’s house were eagerly guiding us around with a kind of easy aﬀability. making a wall fortiﬁed against attack from the sides. a house occupied the projection of the triangle straight opposite us. so that this spot almost
Plato Republic 6. Yet with all these.329 so it is with this fruit. the entrance signalled a house. like some conjuror. There too. and Gregory of Nyssa. but were tame and submissive under the artist‘s hands.488a (Burnett. Oxford Classical Texts). but when we came inside the doors it was not a house but a portico that received us. 15.

Letter 21 To Ablabius the bishop334
ÉAblab¤ƒ is attested before Letter 21 only in F. leaping up into the very air like winged things.: (curtailed and forged as one of Basil’s
Letters): Letter 10. as if meaning to mock us land creatures. the portico above the pool was a unique sight. 271. while elsewhere one might see another shoal packed in a cluster round a morsel of bread. to Stagirius the Sophist. He later became bishop of the Novations in Nicaea while continuing to teach rhetoric (!). were a sight for unaccustomed eyes. 19. But even this we were made to forget by the grapes that were brought us in baskets of vine-twigs. tr. Def. and plunge again into the depth. one manuscript of which notes that he was a monk.E. For the superb ﬁsh would swim up from the depths to the surface. by the varied display of fruit. and again. I have stationed a scribe beside me and have drafted this babbling letter to your eloquence as if in a dream. 4.12 tells of an orator Ablabius who was ordained a priest by the Novatian bishop Chrysanthus in the reign of Theodosius II. the preparations for lunch. here one leaping up.100–103. 22. p. 1. and to whom Libanius addressed his letters 921 and 1015. Mss. 335 Pasquali.
. well after the death of Gregory. But now. and so cannot be the bishop Ablabius of letter 6. following one another in orderly shoals.the pasquali collection
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made us forget what we had previously seen. Le Lettere. since we are satisﬁed and inclined to sleep. 18. 73–74. that there are not three gods was addressed.: GNO 8. Still others. If this is the same Ablabius
333 334
tª logiÒthti. 336 Lettres. 7. n. ed. Pasquali335 however asserts that the present letter could not have been sent to a bishop.2. one pushing aside another. He was perhaps that sophist whom Gregory Nazianzen exhorted to virtue in Letter 233. They would display half their form as they tumbled through the air. The house drew us to itself. which also adds §piskÒpƒ
(bishop). 21.333 But I pray that I may be able to describe fully to you and those who love you with my own voice and tongue and not with paper and ink the beauties of your home. Maraval wonders336 whether the Ablabius here is the same to whom the treatise To Ablabius. Compare a similar social situation in letter 9. there another diving down.: PFb. the varied dainties and savoury sauces and sweet-cakes and the drinking of toasts and wine-cups. p. 84. Socrates H.

who had yet to decide on their future. It describes a method of keeping the doves in the aviary rather than for hunting as such. Of its own accord the sweet smell of the myrrh renders the ﬂock tame to the one that was sent forth.188
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as here. Through his exquisite style. Another interpretation is that the letter was sent with Ablabius’ natural son. Lettres 271 n. Then they anoint her wings with myrrh and release her to join the others outside. to embrace the life of virginity. I send forth to your dignity your son Basil. up to c. On Virginity shows a Gregory still practicing as a rhetorician who endeavoured to persuade his students. .e.10 and 18. In the circles around Basil. The letter is too brief to be able to propose any ﬁrm dating. then the identifying suﬃx ‘the bishop’ was later added anachronistically by scribes.5 may be recalled. Maraval thinks that here Gregory is inviting his correspondent to adopt the monastic life. the young man has become a full Christian. In this case ‘son’ means simply ‘protégé’. Gregory is reinterpreting an image found in Geoponicaunder the name of Julius Africanus. and make a pet of her.
To Ablabius the bishop337 The art of hunting doves goes something like this: when those devoted to such an exercise have caught one dove. i. and indeed. the others all ﬂock together after her and so come homing back. and the evidence for a monastic community in Nyssa in letters 6. 371?).
According to Maraval.339 that you too might be joined to him and ﬁnd the nest which he has built with
337 338
toË aÈtoË éblab¤ƒ §piskÒpƒ F. ‘Ablabius’ is not found in any other ms.338 What then do I mean by beginning in this way? That having anointed the wings of his soul with divine perfume. they tame her. The name change may signify baptism.
. only to courteously invite him to a higher order. Gregory establishes a fellowship of classical culture with Ablabius. who was once Diogenes . Christians often assumed a new name at Baptism. in Caesarea.’. a custom later extended to monastic profession.e. 5. if not even to becoming a monk. the monastic life under Basil‘s leadership. the embracing of baptism and commitment to the ascetic life often come to the same thing. possibly while pursuing his studies (under Gregory. that of sharing his son’s new faith by becoming a Christian. 339 b reads: ‘that having caught your son Dionysios. sublime) elsewhere for the virgin/monastic life. i. . who was once Diogenes. He has been ‘anointed’ in baptism/chrismation with the Spirit of Christ (the ‘Anointed’) under Gregory’s inﬂuence. as he returned from Gregory to his father. Gregory characteristically uses the term ÈchlÒw (lofty. Diogenes. not ‘natural son’. Attracted by the fragrance.

Are they a new assembly of Armenian bishops gathered to re-examine Gregory’s plight and the whole problem of the episcopal succession in Sebasteia. ‘For who in a later period would have understood Letter 22.2).17). It may have been included almost inadvertently in the copy-book Gregory kept of letters written during his conﬁnement in
340 341 342 343
tÚn ÈchlÒteron b¤on. Jon 4. so that even Jonah was worn down (cf. or rather a mere note of introduction?’ Pasquali (LXXXII). Were I to see this happen in my lifetime. Now I have been just as long among the unrepentant Ninevites (cf. Mss.: F. Jon 1. Pray the Lord. I have not yet been able to be vomited out of this maw ( Jon 2. the very slight and incidental character of the note argues for its authenticity.
.340 I would complete the thanksgiving due to God. Gregory is still in custody. then.: PF. to complete his grace (cf. 400–401. or perhaps fellow Neo-nicenes beyond Armenia Minor who might be expected to intervene in Gregory’s cause. perhaps even with Theodosius?
To the bishops 1. among whom I am captive as in the bowels of the beast.: GNO 8. whose meaning no-one realized until Diekamp? Who would have edited Letter 23. Mss.341 Letter 22 To the bishops342
Letters 22 and 23 very likely go back to a prototype copy-book kept by Gregory himself or his immediate assistants.10).e. ‘Die Wahl Gregors von Nyssa’. 2. As in the previous letter.2.11).the pasquali collection
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us. 74. Jon 1.
I. Jon 4.2.5). ed. Pasquali LXXXII. and that I might regain my own tent and ﬁnd respite beneath it (cf. It is not clear who are the bishops to whom he writes. on Phaedimus343
Letter 23 is found only in P and in F (i. That this is another letter written in 380 from Sebasteia in the circumstances described in letter 19 was shown for the ﬁrst time by Diekamp. after the turmoil that broke out at the electoral synod for Sebasteia. ed. Letter 23 Without title. 74. that an order for release from this trap might come (cf.e. For three days the prophet was conﬁned in the whale. Phil 1. GNO 8. and your nobility pass to the higher way of life.6). for the present circumstance of Diogenes’ conversion. G).

As we now have it. GNO 10. if he is a heretic. 61. only its theological content has been retained. ed. 75–79. His friendly tone does not suggest that he is dealing with a known heretic.
Without title344 I spare you many words. Klock349 dated this letter to the same period as the Against the Macedonians (= Pneumatomachians) because of the similarity
344 345
toË aÈtoË énep¤grafow F. The Syriac translation of letter 32 was treated in exactly the same way. bishop of Amasea who ordained Gregory Thaumaturgus to the episcopate (The Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus by Gregory of Nyssa. From his overriding concern to include the Holy Spirit as one of the Trinity and his concern to rule out Sabellianism. 2. Gregory Nazianzen addressed his letter 97 to a certain Heracleianus whom he had left behind in Constantinople. absent in P. and in support of that cf. Pasquali considers that the word (adj. and all will go well with Phaedimus. Here Gregory has hastily written a note of commendation to accompany Phaedimus (otherwise unknown) as he returns to the unnamed addressee. 347 Mss. 348 Lettres 279 n.
. Be mindful of your own. Pasquali LXXXII.190
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Sebasteia. Maraval348 notes that C.1. 349 Untersuchungen zu Stil und Rhythmus bei Gregor von Nyssa (Frankfurt-am-Main.: GNO 8.345 There is need of speed in the favour asked: in this is all our plea. bearing an urgent verbal request from Gregory. n. it may be that Heracleianus is being invited to orthodox faith from Pneumatomachian circles. Yet even the present letter is not marked by a polemical tone. will be open to a calm. Gregory expects that his correspondent. Similarly letter 31 was shorn of its beginning and only its church disciplinary content and conclusion preserved. ‘illustrious’) is a person’s
name. 15A).: F. ‘spare’. 84. F. Hence there is no way of verifying the inscription or ascertaining the identity of the addressee. By his ‘sparing’ words here Gregory shows himself as capable of writing a ‘laconic’ letter as Gregory Nazianzen recommends. Gregory puns on the name with use of the verb fe¤domai. 346 The sentence is so elliptical and allusive its interpretation is open to some conjecture. 1984). Jaeger however thinks it may be meant as an adjective and the real name dropped out after it. succinct and candid exposition of the Neo-nicene faith in the Holy Trinity. the letter lacks its original introduction and conclusion. t“ Faid¤mƒ. since I spare your labours. the Phaedimus.2.346 Letter 24 To Heracleianus the heretic347
Letter 24 survives in only one manuscript.

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of themes. T. Ziegler, in an unpublished thesis at Strasbourg in 1987, goes further and places it between Against the Macedonians and Contra Eunomium III, i.e. in the year 383. On this understanding, Gregory would have met Heracleianus during the council held in Constantinople in 383 which was specially concerned to deal with recalcitrant Eunomians and Pneumatomachians. The discussion of the technical term hypostasis here (cf. letter 5.5c, 8) reads almost as an epitome of its more extended treatment in letter 35. The twofold distinction of the Christian life into the moral part and the accuracy of the dogmas (24.2) has its antecedents in Basil’s teaching. He had been very impressed in his youth by the strict life of Eustathius and his followers. The discovery of his heterodoxy in the 370s led to a clearer realization that a lack of sound faith was of no advantage, however strict one’s behaviour. ‘neither a strict way of life by itself is of beneﬁt, except it be illumined by faith in God, nor can an orthodox confession, bereft of good works, commend you to the Lord, but both of these must go together, that the man of God may be perfect’ Letter 294. Gregory maintains this twofold distinction, only he maintains that the soundness of faith is the governing part of the two (24.3). Hence his bold assertion at the beginning of letter 34.

To Heracleianus the heretic350 1. The word of sound faith (Tit 1.13, 2.2) conveys its strength in simplicity to those who welcome the God-inspired utterances (cf. 2 Tim 3.16) with a good disposition. It has no need of subtle interpretation to assist its truth, since it is able to be grasped and understood in itself from the primary tradition.351 We received it from the Lord’s own voice when he imparted352 the mystery of salvation in the washing of regeneration (Tit 3.5). Go, he said, make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you (Mt 28.18–20). 2. For by distinguishing two elements in the way of life of Christians, one the moral part353 and the other the accuracy of the dogmas,354 he ﬁrmly established the saving dogma in the tradition of 355 bap-

Trinity given in the ‘tradition’ of Baptism. The idea of the Trinity is not a development of latter-day theologians but belongs to the ﬁrst transmission of the Christian faith from the mouth of the Lord. 352 paradÒntow, the act of tradition/transmission/passing on/delivering. 353 tÚ ±yikÚn. 354 tØn t«n dogmãtvn ékr¤beian. 355 paradÒsei.

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tism on the one hand, and commanded that our life be remedied through the keeping of his commandments on the other. 3. Now the devil did not interfere with the part concerning the commandments, since it bore a lesser penalty to the soul. But all the zeal of our enemy arose against the governing and greater part356 in order to ensnare the souls of many, so that even if something were rightly done according to the commandments, it would still a gain to him, because those so deceived would be without the help of the great and ﬁrst hope through the error of dogma. 4. For this reason we urge those who are working out their own salvation (Phil 2.12) not to depart from the simplicity of the ﬁrst utterances of the faith, but as they welcome Father, Son and Holy Spirit into the soul, not to suppose that these are so many names of a single hypostasis.357 For it is not possible that the Father be called his own Father,358 for the title is not validly transferred from his own Son to the Father, or to suppose that the Spirit is not one of those named359 so that by addressing the Spirit the hearer is led to the thought of both Father and Son.360 The hypostasis individually and exclusively signiﬁed by each of the names corresponds361 to the titles accorded them. Thus when we heard ‘the Father’ we have heard the cause of all;362 when we learnt of ‘the Son’ we were taught the power shining forth from the ﬁrst cause for the upholding of all things (cf. Heb 1.3); when we acknowledged ‘the Spirit’, we understood the power that perfects all things brought into being through creation by the Father through the Son.363

I.e. the moral life of Christians cannot be severed from dogma and liturgy. ‘Modalism’, the position of Marcellus of Ancyra, was fostered in part by a certain lack of clarity as to the relative meanings of ousia and hypostasis. At the irenic council presided over by Athanasius in 372, the confusion was admitted. It was not long before the Neo-nicene front formed, under Basil’s leadership, which made a point of deﬁning the two terms, which position eventually triumphed in the Council of Constantinople, 381. 358 I.e. if the Father and Son were one hypostasis, the Father would be identical with the Son, and so be paradoxically named as his own Father. The distinction between the hypostases is precisely in their relations. 359 I.e. the position of the pneumatomachoi, a late variant of homoiousianism, led by Eustathius of Sebasteia, which baulked at according divine status to the Spirit. 360 Thus in a wonderful way, the human subject is led by beginning with the Spirit through the Trinitiarian relations to the Father and the Son. 361 sunupakoÊetai. There is a liturgical resonance in the image here. 362 toË pãntow aﬁt¤an. 363 §k toË pãtrow diå toË ÈioË, the classic formulation of the Greek Fathers for
357

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5. The hypostases therefore are distinguished from each other without confusion364 in the manner described, that is, of Father and of Son and of Holy Spirit. But their substance,365 whatever this is—for it is inexpressible in words and cannot be grasped in thought366—is not divided up according to some diﬀerentiation367 of nature. Therefore that which is incomprehensible, inconceivable, ungraspable368 by reasonings369 is the same in each of the persons370 of the Trinity in whom we believe. 6. But if one is asked what the Father is according to substance, anyone rightly and truly disposed will confess that the object of enquiry transcends knowledge. So also concerning the Only-begotten Son ( Jn 1.14): his substance shall not be categorized by any word that can possibly be comprehended, for who, it says, shall recount his generation? (Is 53.8, Acts 8.33). It is likewise with the Holy Spirit, who is equally unable to be comprehended, which the word of the Lord shows when he says: You hear his voice; but you do not know where he comes from or where he goes ( Jn 3.8). 7. Accordingly we understand that there is no diﬀerence whatever in the incomprehensibility of the three persons.371 One is not more incomprehensible and another less, but in the Trinity the principle of incomprehensibility is one. For this reason, guided by this very incomprehensibility and inconceivability, we say that there is no diﬀerence in substance to be found in the Holy Trinity apart from the order of persons and the confession of the hypostases. The order is handed down in the Gospel, according to which faith372 begins from the Father, passes by means of the Son and ends in the

the relation of the Spirit to the Father and the Son within the divine Trinity. For something approximating the doctrine behind the western ﬁlioque, cf. letter 34. 364 ésugxÊtvw épÉ éllÆlvn diakexvrism°nai. 365 oÈs¤a. Thus Gregory is implicitly saying the Spirit is homoousios with Father and Son. 366 élÆptow. 367 •terÒthta, otherness, diﬀerence. 368 ékatãlhpton . . . éperinÒhton . . . éperidrakton. The three terms are fairly synonymous. The present discussion of the Trinity tests the apophatic limits of language. 369 log¤smoiw. Eunomian rationalism is the target. 370 §n tª triãdi pepisteum°nvn pros≈pvn. Gregory uses prosopon as a synonym of hypostasis. 371 I.e. in their divine essence. 372 ≤ p¤stiw.

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Holy Spirit. But the distinction of persons that appears in the very order of the hypostases that has been handed down does not beget confusion in those capable of following the meaning of the word, since the title of the Father manifests its own sense,373 and again that of the Son, and that of the Holy Spirit its own too, the signiﬁcations in no way becoming confused with each other. 8. Hence we are baptized as it has been handed down to us, into Father and Son and Holy Spirit, and we believe as we are baptized374— for it is ﬁtting that our confession be of one voice with our faith— and we give glory375 as we believe, for it is not natural that worship376 make war against faith, but as we believe, so also we give glory.377 9. Now since our faith is in Father and Son and Holy Spirit, faith, worship378 and baptism (cf. Eph 4.5) accord with each other. For this reason the glory of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is not diﬀerentiated. 10. The very glory which we render to its own nature is none else than the confession of those goods379 (cf. Mt 19:17) which are proper to the majesty of the divine nature. For we do not have the capacity to add honour to the nature transcending all honour,380 but fulﬁl the honour by confessing its proper qualities. 11. Because incorruptibility, eternity, immortality, goodness, power, holiness, wisdom, every majestic and sublime conception belong to each of the persons

373 374

ﬁd¤an ¶nnoian.

In short, lex orandi lex credendi est. The liturgical tradition of Baptism seals for the baptized the form of Trinitarian faith. This sourcing of authentic dogma in the baptismal formula was very characteristic of Basil, from his Contra Eunomium to his On the Holy Spirit 28: ‘Faith and Baptism are two inseparably united means of salvation. Faith is perfected in Baptism and the foundation of Baptism is faith. Both are fulﬁlled in the same names. First we believe in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and then we are baptized in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. The profession of faith leads to salvation and Baptism follows, sealing our aﬃrmation.’ 375 dojãzomen. 376 dÒja, The word can be understood as human opinion or a system of belief. Here Gregory underscores the necessary interdependence of worship and faith, of doxology and dogma. 377 This paragraph uses Basil’s phraseology. See Basil, Letter 125, Def. 2.258–271 at 269, Letter 175, Def 2.456–459 at 457 and On the Holy Spirit 26. 378 dÒja, clearly means doxology. 379 égay«n. Gregory combines the philosophical notion of God as the ‘supreme good’ with the Gospel testimony that God alone is good. Thus the title of ‘the good’ is acknowledged as proper to each of the hypostases in the Trinity. Cf. Basil, Homily on Ps 33 (PG 29.368B) and GNyssa, The Life of Moses, 7: ‘The Divine is itself the good, whose very nature is goodness.’ See the discussion of the various senses of the ‘good’ as applied to God in Lampe, A Patristic Greek Lexicon, 4. 380 tª étimÆtƒ fÊsei, i.e., beyond price or value, unassessable, inestimable.

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in the Holy Trinity in whom we believe, it is by naming their proper goods in this way that we give the glory. 12. Moreover, since all that the Father has the Son has, and all the goods of the Son are contemplated in the Spirit (cf. Jn 16.15, 17.10), we do not ﬁnd in the Holy Trinity any inherent distinction in the sublimity of the glory.381 To take a bodily comparison, one thing is not loftier and another lowlier since that which is unseen and without form is not comprehended by measurement. So also with power or goodness, no critical diﬀerence is found in the Holy Trinity such that one could say there is among them a variation (cf. Jm 1.17) between ‘more’ and ‘less’. Anyone who says that the one is mightier382 than the other tacitly confesses that the one of lesser power is weaker than the one more powerful. This bears the stamp of grossest impiety—to conceive of some weakness or powerlessness, whether in smaller or greater degree, concerning the only-begotten God ( Jn 1.18) and concerning the Spirit of God. For the word of the truth hands it down that both the Son and the Spirit are perfect in power and goodness and incorruptibility and in all the sublime conceptions. 13. If we piously confess the perfection of all good in each of the persons in the Holy Trinity in whom we believe, we cannot at the same time say that it is perfect and again call it imperfect by introducing scales of comparison. For to say that there is a lesser with regard to the measure of power or goodness is nothing else than to aﬃrm that in this respect it is imperfect. Therefore if the Son is perfect and the Spirit is also perfect, reason does not conceive a perfect ‘less perfect’ or ‘more perfect’ than the perfect. 14. But we also learn the indivisibility of the glory from the operations.383 The Father gives life, as the gospel says ( Jn 5.21) and the Son also gives life ( Jn 5.21). But the Spirit also gives life according to the testimony of the Lord who says that it is the Spirit who gives life ( Jn 6.63). 15. We therefore ought to understand that this power begins384 from the Father, issues385 through the Son, and is perfected386 in the

Holy Spirit, for we have learned that all things are from God, and that all is established through (cf. Jn 1.2, 10) and in the only-begotten (cf. Heb 1.3), and that the power of the Spirit pervades all things (cf. 1 Cor 12.11) working387 all things in everyone (1 Cor 12.6) as he wills (1 Cor 12.11), as the Apostle says. Letter 25 To Amphilochius388
This letter is written to Gregory Nazianzen’s ﬁrst cousin, St Amphilochius, who in 373 became bishop and metropolitan of Iconium. The letter oﬀers remarkable insight into the contemporary architecture of a martyrion and also into relations between management and skilled labour. The opening phrase indicates that there has already been previous communication on the subject. Now that Gregory has decided to go ahead with the project, he asks Amphilochius to act on his behalf and procure just the right number of suitable workers in Ancyra, some 160 km distant, because he is not satisﬁed with those available in his own district. Scholars who have devoted attention to this famous letter include Markell Restle389 and Christoph Klock.390 Reconstructions of the plan appear in several of these articles. Restle’s plan is simpliﬁed by Nicole Thierry in La Cappadoce de l’antiquité au Moyen Âge (Turnhout: Brepols, 2002), on p. 85. She compares it to the Church at Barata which also features an octagonal tower with arms of the cross coming out from four of the eight sides of the octagon, with blind arches visible outside in the diagonal sides of the octagon. The description here of the external structure of a martyrion is complemented by Gregory’s description of the interior adornment of the martyrion at Euchaita, In Praise of Theodore the blessed martyr.391 Gregory Nazianzen also describes in Oration 18.39392 the octagonal church with a central vault built by his father at Nazianzus. Compare also the

387 388 389

§nergoËsan, harking back to the ‘energies’ with which this paragraph begins.

who simply assigns the letter to the period of Gregory’s ascendancy. internally a dome on squinches (the ‘Armenian squinch’ a widespread expedient for constructing a dome before the invention of the dome on pendentives). Subsidia Hagiographica 75 (Brussels.8–11). and lead our hopes forward to the deed by sending us as many workers as are needed for the task. as the Apostle says He who has begun a good work will also perfect it (Phil 1. 394 Op.
To Amphilochius395 1. and on this basis would date the letter to 373–375. To cite just one example: the centre of Kayseri (Caesarea) is fairly studded with such structures. Since. Maraval. Restle394 connects Gregory’s indictment for ﬁnancial irregularities in 375/376 with the expenses incurred in the project outlined here.6) I pray you: be an imitator of the great Paul396 in this too. 20–85. but this time the octagon/dome was on pendentives. The ‘Red Church’ about a kilometre from the village of Sivrihisar and marking the location of Arianzus. It features a central octagon. Octagonal towers with conical caps which internally are domes on squinches continued as an architectural trope in the Christian era throughout Armenia and Georgia. i. is clearly very ancient. As to dating. Gal 1. 395 toË aÈtoË émfilox¤ƒ F.
393 In Passio Athenogenis 13 (La Passion inédite de S. But Maraval is not convinced. It masonry was of high quality and stable enough to have lasted for many centuries. P.e. p.. One. today a museum. Besides. Most of them are kumbeti or tombs.
. Athénogène de Pédachtoé en Cappadoce ed. perhaps as old as the 6th century.1–3. and in the Islamic era under the Seljuks. we will follow Maraval. doubting that Gregory would publish a letter that would recall the old accusations made against him. cit. after 381.393 The present author visited several sites connected with the Cappadocian Fathers in March 2006. 80. so there was no space for diagonal sides in between the quadrilateral structures. 396 Amphilochius is bishop of a church founded by St Paul himself (Acts 14. May it ﬁnd your favour! The task we have in hand will attain its end by God’s power who is able whenever he speaks to translate word into deed. I am now persuaded that by God’s grace the project of the martyrion is well in hand. even had a cruciform plan on the scale of Gregory’s martyrion. this letter scarcely shows a Gregory of a mind to be reckless with ﬁnances! He is guided here by the necessity of keeping to what is aﬀordable and of keeping strict accounts. 1990).198
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description of an octagonal church built at Pedachthoe near Sebasteia in the early 4th century.

divided into eight angles—I call the octagonal ﬁgure a circle because of its perimeter—in such a way that the four sides of the octagon which diametrically face each another link the central circle by means of arches to the four adjacent structures. Chapitre VIII ‘Architecture Religieuse’ 77–95. side by side. Gregory means that the diagonal ‘sides’ between the arms of the cross will not be extended into small ‘naves’ as it were. The four other sides of the octagon which lie between the quadrilateral structures will not themselves be extended to form structures. 3. 402 eﬁlÆsevw. the diagonal arches are not quite ‘blind’ arches. 2).398 but attached to each of them will be a semicircular structure in the form of a shell399 terminating in an arch above.e. Photographs of churches with octagonal towers over squinches appear 85–87. May your perfection grasp the dimensions by which the whole task shall be calculated by means of an estimate.the pasquali collection
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2. (Maraval 292. élla. 6. The form of the oratory is that of a cross. as in a small apse or niche. oyster-shell. 398 oÈde aÈta‹ katå tÚ sunej¢w eﬁw ˆikouw épotayÆsontai. Instead. ‘Architektur im Dienste der Heiligenverehrung’. 401 About 1. as the form of the vault402 tapers the opening from a wide span to a sharp point. 403 Thus the structure is capped by an octagonal pyramid. but be completed simply by semicircular ‘apses’ or niches.403
397 The negation is very plausibly restored by Klock. see especially p.85 m. op. in the manner that became so characteristic of eastern Anatolian architecture for centuries. by means of a tier of windows placed over them. cit. But the joints of the structures ‹do not›397 overlap each another as we see in the cruciform pattern elsewhere. They are to have eight columns placed in front of them facing the central space. by four structures all around. with which the sentence begins and with the subsequent data. as you would expect. 4. But above these eight arches. 399 koxloeid«w. both for ornament and for strength. in the middle. it makes sense of the strong adversative. 167. See Thierry. accomplished. n. 400 pess«n. there lies within the cross a circle.e. Thus there will be eight arches in all by which the parallel quadrilateral and semicircular structures will be joined. 85 ‘la plan
. Further in from the diagonal piers400 there shall stand an equal number of columns. 5. the octagonal structure will be raised to the height of four cubits. the mass of the walls as they converge on the central space centre at the eight points of the octagon. but are hollowed out as a ‘semi-circular structure’.. These also shall bear arches over them fashioned to match in size those on the outside. To this end I will try to explain to you the whole plan in a verbal description. or perhaps ‘vortex’.401 What rises from that level will be shaped conically like a spinning-top. i. i.

The distance between the piers extends in the same way to eight cubits. this will be its breadth. Let your truthful soul be aware that some here were negotiating407 with me to furnish thirty workers for a gold piece408 for dressed stonework—with.75 m. which was well above the annual average wage. the proposed rate was one gold piece for thirty workers. a stipulated ration along with
reconstitué du Martyrium de Nysse (d’après Restle 1979)’. 11. 408 xrÊsinon = aureus. diagrams on pp. for the sun°yento of F. 54. that some of them be skilled in making a vault without wooden framework. 27. the width of each of the quadrilateral structures will be eight cubits. at this period. 407 Adopting Keil’s amendment sunet¤yento. that you may be able to estimate accurately the total number of square feet from the thickness of the walls and the internal spaces. you will be able. later called solidus. As to the dimensions below. 2001). x 5. to estimate the sum compounded of all the parts. And the thickness of the wall. It is the scarcity of wood that leads us to this method of rooﬁng the whole fabric with stone. with its point ﬁxed in the middle of the side and extended to its furthest limit. the standard Roman gold coin. per day. 1). and so send us neither more nor fewer stonemasons than our need requires. calculates the annual revenue for a stonemason at 10 solidi. 1981). I have overwhelmed your goodness with such detail for a purpose. 12. See also Christina Maranci. Because your intellect is versatile in all matters and succeeds by God’s grace in whatever direction you choose. 9. beyond the spaces measured internally. is three feet.406 running around the whole building. I draw your attention especially to this point. 406 About 90 cm. since there is no timber for rooﬁng in the vicinity.404 the height as much as the proportion of the width allows. 8.
. And. n.9 m. of 5–7 solidi. 38. 86–97 and the photographs of the Church at Mastara. As far as the sweep of the compass describes. It will also be as much in the semicircular structures. Cyril Mango. (Maraval 293. Architecture Byzantine (Paris. by a ﬁne calculation. Medieval Armenian Architecture (Leuven: Peeters.200
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7. 89. 404 About 3. their length half as much again. for I am informed that when it is built in this way it is more durable than when made to rest on beams.405 The height will be determined in this case also by the proportion of the width. of course. n. a foot being between 29 and 32 cm (Maraval 295. 4). please. and especially ‘The “Original” Armenian Church Form’. 10. 405 I am not sure whether this means that the distance from mid-side to the end of one of the quadrilateral structures also forms the radius of the octagonal ‘circle’ in the centre.

The doorways that are placed upon them will be adorned with the kind of engravings that are customary for beautifying the moulding of the entablature.411 and capitals sculpted in the Corinthian style.
. has at last betaken himself as far from us as he can go. and subsequently. be ﬁxed each day. I know that the workers in your region are better for our need than those that can be hired here. 2. 14. but as Maraval explains. I know that in being so particular about the contracts we shall seem to many to be nigglers. the spe›ra is the moulding at the base of a column.412 these also of stonecutters’ work throughout. 15. But please forbear. 13. We shall of course provide the materials for all these. 296. ﬁnancially. demands payment for having worked for us for so many days. and Maraval. Lettres 298 n. But such preparation of the stones is not possible for us. as the very readiness of workers for such a contract. may it be possible for your sanctity when you realize the need. Otherwise ≤ toiaÊth lacks
I. 2. though he has no work to show for it. as far as possible. to relieve us completely of anxiety concerning the workers. so that there is no need for them to spend time410 on ﬁtting together harmoniously the sides of the stones. being disgusted. and the work shortly envisaged on the columns and the porch bears witness. following Maraval’s amendment and Restle’s interpretation:
a corresponding noun. The stonecutters’ task is not only for the eight pillars. If the worker wants to contract with us.
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≤m›n d¢ ≤ toiaÊth t«n l¤yvn ‹kataskeuh› oÈ pãrestin. but the task also requires moulded bases on square plinths. See C.e.24) which has often heard many hard things from me. let a deﬁnite measure of work. The porch too will be of marble ﬁnished with suitable ornament. 16. Klock (cited above) 161. Now. n. 412 This detail suggests dedication to the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia. 411 bvmoeide›w spe¤raw. Mt 6.409 Rather. the material for our building will be clay brick and chance stones.the pasquali collection
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the gold piece. this is clearly not the case. The form that is to be impressed on the material skill will bestow. for that Mammon (cf. Now if my account has described the task accurately. 410 And hence costing more money. as far as skill and fair dealing in the matter of wages are concerned. lest he pass the time idly. which need to be adorned with a beautiful facing. with whom Gregory and his family long had connections (see letter 1 and notes). The traditional understanding is ‘We do not have such stones available’. In addition there will also be a surrounding portico of not less than forty pillars. in Latin the torus.

attributed to Gregory and Stagirius. LXXXVI. 3). also inspire a fear that you may somehow prove staunch against my
Mss. so that we may be able to ﬁnish the task before us unhindered by poverty—that laudable and desirable evil. perhaps one of Gregory’s colleagues in his old profession. He is possibly not a Christian. which would date the exchange of letters to 382 or later. That is why I so stress the fair dealing of the workmen. nor can I pass over to him (Lk 16. 17. and has fortiﬁed himself against us by an unbridgeable gulf—I mean. promise boldly as far as it is possible and lawful. rhetorician who has found a position as a scholasticus.416 But you. There is in all this of course a certain element of jest. all bishops are slippery ﬁsh. see Pasquali IX. dusgr¤pison is a hapax. since he and Gregory resort to a shared Hellenism to establish their aﬃnity. but ‘hard to take in a net’.: GNO 8. i. Libãniow Basile¤ƒ L. In other words. the meaning of which.202
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I suppose.
413 414
.2. Letter 26 From the sophist Stagirius to Gregory413
Letters 26–28 are also transmitted in the corpus of Basil’s letters. according to Maraval (301. All bishops are creatures diﬃcult to catch in a net. through your prayers. He is a sophist. ‘Libanius to Basil’ (Def.314–315). at the nonsense that is constantly directed against him. 416 Pçw m¢n §p¤skopow dusgrip¤ston prçgma.e. 4. ed. that they will meet with fair dealing from us and be paid their full wages: for we shall give all and keep nothing back.
From the sophist Stagirius to Gregory the bishop415 1. Stagirius is also the addressee of letter 10. O man of God. God also opens to us his hand of blessing. is not ‘grasping’. Here Stagirius appears to allude playfully to Gregory’s controversial manner in the Contra Eunomium.414 Pasquali (LXX) does not hesitate to call the one who insinuated these letters among Basil’s letters a ‘forger’. 83–84. to the extent that you have surpassed the others in eloquence.: PL. Paul Maas discovered letters 26–28 in their original form. 1118. Berliner Sitzungsberichte (1912) 988–998. in the same way that. poverty—so that neither can he come to me. The tone is one of light jesting. in codex P.26). hard to pin down. n. The present letter appears in a truncated form as Letter 347. 415 As preserved in P. Yet when you negotiate with the men.

He returns Stagirius’ jesting.314–317. unless you furnish them. Basile¤ow Libãniƒ L.2. 423 grip¤stein is not found. 2d. Hild & M. dear sir. 4. and Gregory knows it.the pasquali collection
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request. He never took up residence in Osiana! 420 This last sentence is also missing in L. The banter of these letters is in the style of the lighter part of Plato’s dialogues. Restle Tabula Imperii Byzantini.420 Letter 27 Reply of holy Gregory to the sophist421
This letter is a response to the preceding one.423 consider. forty miles due west of Nevsehir. in Plato. do lay aside your expertise in counterargument417 and apply yourself to the mode of generosity. 422 As preserved in P. mocking his term and his rhetorical art. e. 84–85.: GNO 8. addressing each other as Œ yaumãsie. But now. Since we are in need of rafters with which to roof the house— though another sophist would have said ‘joists’ or ‘stakes’. Kappadokien. has undertaken to fulﬁl Strategius’ request for building materials. 418 A droll reference to Gregory’s sacred powers as bishop? 419 prÚw tÚnÉOsihn«n presbÊteron. This detail disproves Libanius’ authorship. with a plan of the ruins.: PL. dear sir. II.
Reply of holy Gregory to the sophist 422 1. Def. See F. ed. who is
417 This possibly refers to Gregory’s polemic against Eunomius. So do be large-hearted dear sir. 2b. Here Gregory amply returns Stagirius’ jesting in kind. as such. 250–251.2. preening himself with ﬁne little words rather than accommodating himself to the need—do give your nod to the gift of several hundred. evidently the parish priest of Osiana. The sentence is absent in L. 2c. by aﬀecting to think he culled it from some unknown work of Plato’s. you have the power to do so. The whole letter is a study in light irony. Like the omission previously noted. and send a letter to the presbyter of Osiana419 ordering the gift. note. if you wanted to cut them from Paradise. Today it is Esksehir (oﬃcially Ovaören).
. Osiana (or Osiena) was the ﬁrst staging post on the road from Nyssa to Caesarea—GNO 8. 2a. 84. 421 Mss.g.418 But I. ‘Basil to Libanius’. and the expression has this meaning which your sophistic power has selected for us from the secret sanctuary of Plato. Of course. appearing among Basil’s letters: Letter 348. He ends by reporting that Dios. it was a topical reference edited out by the forger to facilitate the inclusion of the letter in the Basil/Libanius corpus. See the previous letter for notes on textual transmission. shall spend the winter in the open air. If ‘making a gain’ is called ‘catching in a net’.

putting up their own wisdom as merchandise just as the harvesters of honey do with their honey-combs. not ten thousand or twenty thousand rafters. ‘more grasping’. ﬂerÚw de›na.
Gregory’s counter-jibe to Stagirius’ caricature of his episcopal ‘power’. et al.424 we. and. L. but uses the more classical term for priest. accepts the best mss. It therefore belongs to the same
424 425 426
mçllon égr¤pistow. and understood adverbially with ‘promise’.60. 429 ı ﬂerÚw d‹ow.425 or the race of sophists.: PL. whose art consists in levying a toll upon words? 2. to dance! 4. It appears as letter 1587 in the Libanian corpus. P.304–307. soi t“ katå tåw mel°taw to›w Mhdiko›w §mpompeÊonti ﬁsariymouw.
.204
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less likely to be taken in a net. rather than the usual Christian term of presbyter. whose name is Dios.24–25. ÉEustãyiow and Donãtow. For who among the bishops has imposed a tax on his words? Who has made his disciples pay fees? But this is what sophists plume themselves on. Mk 2:14 and Mat 10:3). n.: GNO 8. Def. 4. 3. P records no addressee.430 saying that he would send.4) that there was a Caesarean martyr who had this name. you stir those who do not know how to dance. but just as many as the petitioner could use and would be serviceable to the recipient. Letter 28 [on the rose and its thorns]431
The letter postdates Gregory’s journey to Palestine and Arabia in late 381. cf. 226.428 which the sacred Dios429 has solemnly promised me to deliver safe and sound. Maraval. an old man. 8.346 and 355. ‘casting a long shadow’. according to your Homer. 202 (where the number of Spartans is given as 300). The earlier part of this letter up to p. ed. and Pasquali LXXXII. 86 line 10: §kka¤ousa. 428 dolixosk¤ouw. pointing out (305. Other variants in L mss are élfa›ow (a proper name. But I have ordered to be given to you. You see what you are doing with the mysterious. L:has ‘Basil to Libanius’. who make a parade of your Persian declamations. See Letter 26 for note on textual transmission. PLR. accepted by Pasquali. Gregory therefore is referring to the Christian priest at Osiana. Iliad 3. 427 The reference is to the respective numbers of Persians and Greeks who fought at the battle of Thermopylae. however. 430 The remainder of the letter is missing in L. rather than his trip to Antioch in 379.2. Wilamowitz’ emendation from ﬂerÚw dÉ LMonLBar. appears in the Basilian corpus as Letter 342.426 rafters of equal number with the soldiers who fought at Thermopylae. Herodotus 7. hieros. musical power of your words? You have roused even me. 431 Mss. to skip about and yes. who are staked in so nimbly by your epistolary power. cf. 85–86.427 all of good length. mçllon dusgr¤pistow.

He appears to have written to complain that Gregory has not fulﬁlled some task he entrusted to him before the latter’s long journey south. the Letter to which Gregory is now replying. The mild erotic imagery was conventional theme in the second sophistic. who also opened this letter435 at the same time and learnt all from your own words. 3. Gregory uses the classical Hellenist manner to win his correspondent. 434 It is by no means settled who this Evagrius might be.the pasquali collection
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period as letter 3.
1. that that was no basis for his ire anyway. Those who are inclined to the rose. almost incidentally as it were. as is ﬁtting for lovers of the beautiful. It will be wholly our concern never to provide you with occasions for your blessed reproach. and 19. something like this. and that there are even witnesses that the behest was fulﬁlled exactly. if you only recall that letter of yours which. even the thorns of your words are a pleasure. or provokingly with reproaches. are not at all annoyed by the thorns from the midst of which the ﬂower emerges. since several persons of this name appear in the letters of the Cappadocians. who is clearly of a secular and cultured class.432 inciting those picking the ﬂowers to greater desire by the not unwelcome pricks. yet prickled with certain reproaches and charges against us. making me burn with greater longing for your friendship. as you usually do. 433 prÚ t∞w §p‹ tØn ÑE–an épodhm¤aw. because before our travels through the East433 we accomplished everything according to your desire and owed by us to justice. Again. Palestine and their hinterland. and adds at the end. 4.e.
. see Letters 2. as we have not even now provided you with any. 3. playfully or perhaps even seriously. Of this our most reverent and mutual brother Evagrius434 is witness. Phoenicia. though it contained the ﬂower of your discourse and unfolded to us the fountain of your eloquence. 2. generally Syria. the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire. Indeed I once heard someone say of them. Gregory refers to his journey to Palestine and to Arabia. ≤ •–a = Oriens. that nature has also made these slender thorns to sprout that they might serve lovers of the ﬂower the way that the lovers’ jabs do. Now why do I introduce the rose into my letter? Surely you do not have to learn from us. because of its topical reference this whole paragraph is omitted to ﬁt it for the Basilian corpus. 435 I. He is
432 Ä kayãper §rvtikã tina knismata to›w §rasta›w toË ényouw. But to me. Gregory ﬁrst elegantly disarms his correspondent’s anger. for he happened to be present. So then do write and continue to write in whatever way it may appeal to you to do. whether with dignity.

ed. i. It is noteworthy that Gregory writes in a highly cultured.: Letter 1. NPNF Ser. add refer to Peter as bishop of Sebasteia: V. to
436
. and is still the monastic superior at Annisa.: FLZSV. Despite the inscription in two manuscripts. 5. were not originally part of the corpus of the Contra Eunomium but were transmitted as private letters. Undoubtedly he had the chance to visit and speak with his brother during the aﬀairs at Ibora (19.1–6) has the character of a genuine private letter to his brother Peter.1. vol. hypotactic style of Greek to Peter. Bishop of Sebasteia439 1. letter 30. seems to more intentionally preface the Contra Eunomium I.
To his brother Peter. Pasquali LXXIX).12) and later too. whose education was wholly guided by Macrina. They were attached to the Contra Eunomium as a preface (Pasquali IX) in about the 11th century. 87–91.438 Gregory speaks here of Peter’s advice to him. perhaps after the release from the distressing situation in Sebasteia. Though Peter had been not present at their sister’s death and funeral. in the following letter. Probably Peter is not yet bishop of Sebasteia at the time of these letters. as Peter himself uses such. in a collection of minor letters (cf. one might think. 438 VSM 18. in which Gregory uses the ﬁrst person singular. and had missed Gregory’s presence then. but the later part (29.e. for example. once the awkward detainment in Sebasteia reported by Gregory in letter 19 was behind him.2. after Gregory had returned from ‘Armenia’. F. GNO 8.437 The earlier part of the letter (29. prolegomenorum at libros contra Eunomium. He asks his brother to judge whether he should go ahead with publication or should restrict its circulation. 439 Only one of Pasquali’s mss. The burden of the letter is that Gregory is worried that polemics and personal attachment to Basil may have led him to express himself intemperately in the ﬁrst instalment of his treatise against Eunomius—a not unjustiﬁed concern. tr. unless Peter himself had visited him there. 437 Cf. Letter 29 was written in 380/381. 2. On my return from Armenia I was scarcely able with diﬃculty to ﬁnd a little leisure to attend to the care of the body and to assemMss. Jaeger. Maraval 192). 33. Presently they survive independently in only one codex. Contra Eunomium I.387. no term of address is used within the letter that might be expected towards a bishop.1 (GNO 8.206
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also witness of our zeal for what is just and of the good will of those managing your interests in these aﬀairs.7–9) in which Gregory switches to the plural of modesty. Letter 29 To his brother Peter on the CONTRA EUNOMIUM 436
Letter 29 and the reply to it.

I thought it best to prefer you in your wisdom before all others. and Gregory looks to him for reliable spiritual counsel. Eunomius not only wrote on the various topics which might pass as a defence of his own doctrine. because we have maintained a ﬁtting patience in meeting unruly attacks and have practised as far as possible that moderate manner which the holy man taught us. 441 The lofty esteem in which Gregory held his sister Macrina casts its glow on his brother Peter. Gregory wrote his Contra Eunomium III dealing with the second part of Eunomius’s book. 442 Not Basil Senior. while my heart was still hot with passion (Ps 38. Thus my work is composed at last as a complete treatise and has now become a compact volume. 5. But for counsel in these matters—whether I should entrust this work to the hearing of the many or take some other course. as your wisdom advised. What makes me hesitate is this. because the one who lent me the book of the heresy very soon and with great discourtesy sent for it again. But I fear that as a result of what we have
which Marval later added B. Peter remained always faithful to Macrina’s and Basil’s monastic ideal. 2. deal with the ﬁrst part of Eunomius’s book Apologia for his Apologia. 440 Gregory’s Contra Eunomium I–II. I have been constantly besieged by the many people who maintain some zeal for the truth. Yet I have not written against both his works. Shortly after the present juncture.440 3.441 4. spiritual father to all.4) and in anguish at this common misfortune of the churches. which was a reply to Basil’s Contra Eunomium.
. Macrina’s protégé and zealous collaborator in the monastic community at Annisa. but expended the greater part of his energy on laboriously written out abuses against our father. When the holy Basil fell asleep and I inherited the controversy of Eunomius.the pasquali collection
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ble the notes of my reply to Eunomius. LZ simply have ‘to his brother Peter’. The public have perhaps pardoned us in other respects. Owing to its having got about—I do not know how—that we have taken pains to answer this blasphemous riposte.442 This is why. provoked as I was at his insolent ravings. but St Basil the Great. and F has simply ‘to Peter’. I was not able in so short a time to deal adequately with both his works. I displayed a certain indignation and animosity against the writer. allowing me no time to copy it or study it at leisure. I did not ﬁnd suﬃcient leisure. Having only seventeen days available. and ‘father’ in this sense to his own brothers and sisters (except perhaps Macrina).

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now written against the adversary we may be regarded by chance readers as a raw recruit, easily provoked by the abuses of the insolent. 6. What may perhaps disarm the suspicion that this is what we are like, is that our display of anger was not on our own behalf, but on account of the things said against our father, and that in such cases moderation may be less pardonable than asperity. 7. If the ﬁrst part of the discourse seems somewhat outside the controversy, such an arrangement of the discourse will, I think, be approved by one who judges carefully. For neither should the reputation of the great one have been left undefended, smeared as it was with the antagonist’s blasphemies, nor the battle on his behalf be allowed to intrude sporadically throughout the discourse. 8. Besides, if anyone reasons about it accurately, these pages are also part of the controversy. For our opponent’s discourse has two distinct aims: to insult us and to controvert sound doctrine, and it was necessary that our discourse also range itself on both fronts. But for the sake of clarity, and in order that the thread of the enquiries on matters of doctrine should not be chopped up by parentheses of answers to his accusations, we have perforce divided our treatment into two parts. In the ﬁrst part we have devoted ourselves to refuting the charges levelled against us. After that we have grappled as best we could with what he has said against the doctrine. 9. Our discourse contains not only a rebuttal of their heretical views, but also an instruction and an exposition of our doctrines. For it would be shameful and we would be entirely wanting in spirit if, while our enemies do not hide their absurdity, we for our part were not bold with the truth. 10. May the Lord preserve you sound, in soul and in body, for the Church.443 Letter 30 Reply of Peter to Gregory444
This letter is Peter’s response to the previous letter, and hence written in late 380–early 381. It is a most precious document indeed, the only extant

writing we have from the hand of Peter,445 the last-born of Emmelia and Basil the elder’s remarkable children. Here he urges his brother to publish Contra Eunomium I, and to press on with refuting the rest of Eunomius’ apologia. It is interesting to compare Peter’s style with that of his two brothers, and of his sister Macrina, if her prayer before death in the VSM446 can be any reﬂection of her manner. The letter is a tissue of Scriptural passages and allusions, innocent of classical topoi, and is far closer to Basil’s style in dealing with ascetics and with Macrina’s style, than with Gregory’s. Yet Peter himself has acquired no small rhetorical skill. It is by no means obvious from the internal evidence of letters 29 and 30 that Peter has as yet become the bishop of Sebasteia. That more likely followed the Neo-nicene triumph at Council of Constantiople in 381, with all its enactments for the churches of the Eastern empire. Therefore Peter was probably still monastic father and the superior of the community at Annisa when he penned this letter.

Peter, Bishop of Sebasteia, to Gregory of Nyssa his brother 1. Peter to his most pious brother Gregory, greetings in the Lord. When I consulted your sanctity’s letter and discerned in your discourse against the heresy your zeal for the truth and for our holy father, I deemed that the discourse was not simply a work of your own power, but of him who ordained that the truth should be spoken among his own servants447 (cf. Acts 4.29). 2. And if I say that it is well to attribute this plea for the truth to the Spirit of truth himself (cf. Jn 14.17), so it also seems to me that this zeal against sound faith ( Tit 1.13, 2.2) should be referred not to Eunomius but to the father of the lie himself (cf. Jn 8.44). 3. Indeed, that murderer from the beginning ( Jn 8.44) who speaks in him, seems to have zealously whetted the sword against himself. For if he had not been so bold against the truth, no one would have stirred you to this plea on behalf of the doctrines of piety. But in order especially to expose the rottenness and the ﬂimsiness of their doctrine, he who catches the wise in their own cleverness ( Job 5.13, 1 Cor 3.19) allowed them both to bray against the truth and to practise themselves vainly on this vain speechwriting.

4. But since he who has begun a good work will bring it to completion (Phil 1.6), do not weary of serving the power of the Spirit (Lk 4.14, Rom 15.13) or leave the victory over those who campaign against Christ’s glory half-won. Imitate your true father instead, who, like Phineas the zealous, pierced through both teacher and disciple with the single stroke of his refutation (cf. Num 25.7). With the outstretched arm of your discourse thrust the sword of the Spirit (Eph 6.17) through both these heretical books, lest the serpent, though shattered on the head (Ps 73.13), frighten those of simpler mind by the quiver in his tail. For if the ﬂrst arguments have been dealt with and the last remain unexamined, the public will consider that they still retain some strength against the truth.448 5. The strong feeling you show in your discourse will be as acceptable as salt to the palate of the soul. As bread cannot be eaten, according to Job, without salt ( Job 6:6), so the discourse which is not seasoned with the astringents449 of God’s word will never wake and never move desire. 6. Take heart then, because you are providing a noble example to succeeding generations, teaching well-disposed children how they should regard their good fathers. For if you had shown such zeal against those who insulted his reputation while the holy one went about in this human life, you would probably not have escaped the accusation of appearing to be some kind of ﬂatterer. Now however, you show such good will towards him who led you to the light through his spiritual travail450 (cf. Gal 4.19), that your zeal for the departed and your indignation against his enemies show clearly the genuineness and truth of your soul. Farewell!

448 In short, Peter exhorts Gregory to continue writing until he refutes Eunomius’ second book. 449 émuktikvt°roiw FZS. mustikvt°roiw, LBV, ‘inmost sentiments’. émuktikvt°roiw derives from émuktikÒw, Æ, on used by Soranus (2nd cent. AD ) for medicines of an ‘irritant’ character—see LSJ Lexicon. In the context Peter refers to the stimulant, pungent qualities—the ‘salt’—of God’s word. Peter shows the same familiarity with medical terminology that is characteristic of all the Cappadocians, but it seems it was an unfamiliar term to some later scribes. On Gregory’s familiarity with medicine see letter 13.1 and note. 450 According to Peter’s valuable testimony, Basil was instrumental in Gregory’s ‘conversion’, when he left his secular career and entered upon service of the Church.

SUPPLEMENTARY COLLECTION

The letters in this selection are presented in the order of their recognition, or their being proposed for recognition as works of Gregory of Nyssa. The edition from which each translation has been made is noted in the prefatory note to each letter. Letter 31 To Letoius bishop of Melitene
Gregory’s authorship of the letter to Letoius has always been acknowledged. It was due to a decision by Pasquali (ix) and by other editors following him, that it was not included in recent editions of his letters, a decision based on a narrow conception of the epistolary genre. Because the letter was taken up so soon into the body of Eastern church canons, Pasquali and others left it to editors of canonical literature. However it is clear that it was originally a genuine letter, called forth in the same sort of circumstances as Basil’s letters 188, 199 and 217 to Amphilochius, i.e. it is the considered response of an authoritative senior bishop to the questions of a new and inexperienced bishop on the Church’s administration of penance. It has as much right to be included here among Gregory’s letters as Basil’s ‘canonical’ letters have been among his. Moreover, this important letter has never appeared before in English. That this letter was preserved, such as it is, is due to a decision by an unknown canonist in Constantinople who in late 6th century (c. 580) revised John Scholasticus’ pioneering work in codiﬁcation of Church law, the Synagoge L titulorum. Scholasticus had added certain letters of Basil to Amphilochius to the decisions of church councils. The unknown canonist took a cue from this and in his own work, the Synagoge in XIV titles (also called Syntagma XIV titulorum), added excerpts from a wider range of Church Fathers.1 One of these was Gregory of Nyssa’s letter to Letoius in the form we now know it, minus its original introduction and divided into eight ‘canons’. All the subsequent transmission of the letter stems from this edition. Professor Ekkehard Mühlenberg of Gottingen’s critical edition of this letter is forthcoming in GNO, but he sent me his text to use and invited my queries—a relationship of senior to junior not unlike that of Gregory and Letoius. There have been three notable earlier editions of the letter:

1

See Gallagher, Church Law and Church Order in Rome and Byzantium, 38.

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1. The edition published by A. Morell in Paris in 1638, and republished by Migne in Patrologia Graeca 45, 221–236. 2. Joannes Baptista Pitra, Iuris Ecclesiastici Graecorum Historia et Monumenta, Tom. I a primo p. C. n. ad VI saeculum, pp. 619–629 (with correction on page 668), Romae 1864 (reprinted 1963). 3. Périclès Pierre Joannou (ed. with French translation): Discipline générale antique (IV e–IX e s.), tome 2: Les canons des Pères Grecs, published in the series Fonti, Fascicolo IX, by Pontiﬁca Commissione per la Redazione del Codice di Diritto Canonico Orientale (Grottaferrata: Tipograﬁa Italo— Orientale, 1963), pp. 203–226. Mühlenberg found many corrigenda in Pitra’s apparatus and more than 300 in Joannou’s apparatus, which he considers useless. The establishment of a reliable edition therefore is greatly needed. The text he used was ﬁrst edited by Hilda Polack in 1962. It was reviewed by Jaeger, but since Polack never submitted a praefatio it was not printed. Subsequent attempts to complete the work in the 1970s were also defeated. Finally Mühlenberg undertook the task, beginning with correcting errors in Polack’s manuscript. He found it necessary to re-collate all the manuscripts, and is now ﬁnishing the praefatio in which some 130 manuscripts are surveyed. The selection of the witnesses for use in the apparatus is Hilda Pollack’s, with three later additions (F, M, T) to represent the spectrum of the early text tradition. Mühlenberg’s forthcoming critical edition of the letter to Letoius is based on the following manuscripts, listed in the order of their antiquity:
P Patmensis 172, parchment, 9th cent.

Vaticanus graecus 843, parchment, 9th cent. Dublinensis Collegii Trinitatis 200, parchment, 10th cent. Romanus Vallicellianus graecus F. 10, parchment, 10th cent. Hierosolymitanus monasterii toË StauroË 2, parchment, 10th cent. Vaticanus graecus 1589, parchment, 10th cent. Mediolanensis Ambrosianus C 135 inf., parchment, 11th cent. Oxoniensis Bodleianus Auct. T.2.6, parchment, 11th cent. Mediolanensis Ambrosianus B 107 sup., parchment, 12th cent. L Londinenis Musei Britannici graecus Old Royal 16.D.1, parchment, 12th cent. S Vaticanus graecus 1907, paper, 12th cent. v the vulgate text of the 1638 Paris edition, republished in P.G. 45, 221–236. V D F H R M T B Manuscripts L and S, and two other mss. not included in the apparatus, are collections of Gregory of Nyssa’s treatises. Mühlenberg thinks that the text type preserved in them is a revised form of an uncial ms. which was scarcely legible. The oldest form of the letter, i.e. as it appears in the Synagoge in XIV titles appears in P, but it is also found in the Nomocanon XIV titulorum, originating c. 630 AD and later revised by Photius in 883 AD. At the time of writing Mühlenberg had not yet articulated the text families. He was not intending to present a stemma because of the sheer abundance of mss. of the 10th (16) and 11th (15+) centuries.

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Ekkehard Mühlenberg’s edited text occupies pp. 47–61. In translating, I essentially trusted his text, taking special note to observe the diﬀerences from v. The titles at the head of each section and the alphabetic subversiﬁcation are my own. The letter as it stands clearly lacks its original epistolary introduction, which is a loss since Gregory was such a specialist in writing captivating introductions. Compare the loss of introduction and conclusion in letter 24 and in the Syriac translation of letter 32. The epistolary conclusion however has been preserved, and this allows us, together with the contents of the letter to build some picture of the letter’s provenance and purpose. The addressee, Letoius, was Otreius’ successor as bishop of Melitene. Gregory wrote letters 10 and 18 to Otreius, who was a participant in the council of 381 and was named with Gregory and Helladius in the imperial edict Cod. Theod 16.1.3 as a guarantor of orthodoxy in eastern Anatolia and Syria. Gregory surely felt his passing deeply and very probably mentioned him in the lost introduction. Letoius wrote a letter to Gregory which included a series of questions on the administration of penance in the Church. This letter is Gregory’s reply. The exchange gives the impression of coming early, even very early in Letoius’ term as bishop. From the opening remarks (1a), it might be guessed that Letoius is yet to face his ﬁrst Easter as bishop. He was seeking authoritative help in fulﬁlling his duties at that focal point of the Church’s year. These duties included the conferral of baptism and the readmission to communion of penitents who had completed their due penance (1b). The dating of Letoius’ accession to the episcopate is a matter of some conjecture. He appears in Theodoret Church History 4.10 in association with Amphilochius of Iconium and Flavian of Antioch in combating the spread of Messalianism among the monks. He is mentioned also in Theodoret’s Haereticarum fabularum compendium PG 83, 335–556 at 432, and by Photius in Bibl. Cod. 52. Photius reports his reading of a letter sent to Flavian from a synod convened at Side in Lycaonia by Amphilochius at which Messalianism was condemned as heretical. Karl Holl, Amphilochius von Ikonium in seinem Verhältnis zu den grössen Kappadoziern, Tübingen, 1904, dated this synod of Side as early as 383, with Flavian’s synod at Antioch following afterward. More recently however, Klaus Fitschen, in Messalianismus und Antimessalianismus, FKDG 71 (Göttingen: Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, 1998), 29–37 places Flavian’s council ﬁrst, and dates the Synod of Side well into the 390s. The maturity of doctrine and phraseology in this letter and Gregory’s mention of his old age in relation to his protégé points perhaps to a later rather than an earlier dating for this letter, so that the year 390 or thereabouts it might be reasonably nominated. The phrase so characteristically Gregory’s, ‘erotic power and disposition’ (1k) also appears in letter 36, which Pouchet dates to Gregory’ ﬁnal years. Another common element in these two letters is ‘the brothers’ (8d, 36.3). In fact letter 36 oﬀers a plausible scenario for the writing of this letter too. Gregory has been visited by ‘brothers’, i.e. monks, who bear a letter and a verbal message from Letoius. The ‘haste’ with which Gregory writes is explained if the brothers are

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waiting to take back a written reply with them. Gregory quickly consults the Church documents he has to hand concerning the penances assigned to various sins. What to make of Gregory’s ‘begetting’ of Letoius ‘according to God’ (8d)? This language of spiritual fatherhood is in accord with several NT passages, and means that Gregory had been instrumental in bringing Letoius to Christ, in Baptism, monastic life or priestly orders or in some combination of the same. Compare two contemporaries, Ambrose of Milan and Nectarius of Constantinople, both advanced to the episcopate from the catechumenate. It is possible that Gregory persuaded Letoius to service of the church and brought him through Baptism to priestly orders. Basil had earlier exercised a similar fatherhood towards Amphilochius, and even towards Gregory himself, for in letter 30.6 Peter reminds Gregory how Basil once brought him to the light through his spiritual travail. One of the admirable features of this letter is the preamble in which Gregory succinctly and eloquently sketches a spiritual anthropology which is the perspective in which to approach the administration of penance in the church. The ruling idea is not that of enacting the legal decisions of a tribunal but that of a spiritual physician diagnosing and treating spiritual illnesses and verifying progress by appropriate signs of spiritual health. This is seen most of all in terms of the penitent’s own prohairesis, his choice or will. The process of penance is meant to be a spiritual education. It is set squarely in terms of the human vocation to resist the slide into vice and to contend for virtue and beyond that in terms of the Christian vocation to transformation in Christ that is valid for all Christians at all times. Unfortunately no pagination of the forthcoming critical edition is available as yet. The headings and the subversiﬁcation using letters of the alphabet are mine.

Canonical Letter of the holy Gregory to Letoius among the saints, bishop of Melitene 2 1. The psychology of vice and the rationale of repentance a. This too is one of the contributions to the holy festival,3 that we understand the lawful and canonical dispensation concerning those who have erred, so that every inﬁrmity of the soul arising from whatever sin is cured. b. For since this universal feast of creation, which is celebrated every year throughout the whole world at the return

‘among the saints’ omitted in S, ‘concerning the deﬁnition of penalties’ added at the end in v. 3 The Pasch, or Easter, when catechumens were admitted to Baptism, Chrismation and Holy Communion, and penitents who had completed their appointed time of penance were readmitted to Holy Communion.

2

Whatever the skilled method necessary for the present problem is the approach we shall employ. Compare also other expressions of a tripartite soul in the image of a charioteer commanding two horses.1 and note.
4
. the healing being accomplished in a way that corresponds to the passion. and then to apply the cure to the patient accordingly. f.6). Gregory uses the same term for the transformation of the elements of bread and wine in the Divine Liturgy. though the latter concerns something more elemental than anger as such. The source of this psychology is Plato’s The Republic 440. It is no minor task to dispense with a correct and approved judgment the words regarding such as these. 9.e. 6 On Gregory’s esteem of the medical art. so that as the saying has it.5).14). 253d–254e. he may not be shaken forever but the righteous be in eternal remembrance (cf. Phaedrus 246a–b.supplementary collection
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of the annual cycle also celebrates the resurrection of him who has fallen—for sin is a fall and resurrection is the raising up again from the fall of sin—it would be well that on this day that we bring forward4 not only those who are transformed5 by the grace of God through the washing of regeneration (Tit. although the form of treatment will vary—for since there is a variety of inﬁrmities the method of cure is adapted to each disease—so also. reconcile qualiﬁed penitents by absolution and participation in Holy Communion.7 In these three consist all the upright deeds of those who live according to virtue. and the falls of those who lapse into vice. c. but lead also those who through repentance and conversion are rising up again from dead works to the living way (Heb. especially 440e–441a. d.6 to restore the patient to health. in accordance with the announcement of the prophet that we should dispense words with judgment (Ps 111. as we surely see in the
I. 5 metastoixeioum°nouw. According to the primary division there are three aspects in what concerns the soul: reason. see letter 13. the diseased part may be left aside while the cure is applied to another part. the cure undertaken will necessarily take many forms. to examine ﬁrst in what the condition consists. desire and spiritedness. the concupiscible and the irascible’. e. Just as in the cure of the body the medical art has but one aim. Otherwise through ignorance of the method of cure. since there is a great variety of passions in the disease of the soul. 7 tÚ te logikÚn ka‹ tÚ §piyumhtikÚn ka‹ tÚ yumoeid°w.5). or ‘the rational. 3. It therefore behoves anyone who intends to apply the appropriate cure to the diseased part of the soul. to the saving hope from which they had been estranged. in Catechetical Discourse 37. Ps 111.

9 and a clear and unconfused view concerning the nature of subsistent realities: what is worthy of choice among the things that exist and what is to be abhorred and rejected. a muddled and erring conception of the nature of things. SR 29. Basil’s discussions on the pathologies of vice and sin. often comes through a diminution of heat. having recourse to the same distinction in what regards the soul. since those who are badly aﬀected by an excess of cold are beneﬁted by whatever warms and foments. i. for example. he stresses that the primary cause of a behaviour is sometimes hidden and must be probed and properly diagnosed before an eﬀective cure of the soul be undertaken.8 g. Inﬁrmity. thought the ‘beautiful’ aspect of tÚ kalÒw. with the result that. a failure to judge that which is truly beautiful.20). the particular character of the soul’s movements is divided into three as we said: reason. desire and spiritedness. to those instead who are inﬂamed with immoderate heat. 81. h. so that whatever is against nature in each of those elements that are disposed for good or for ill may be corrected. they only bring about a condition more diﬃcult to cure.10 so that if there is in us any erotic power and disposition11 it is wholly engaged in that direction. It is therefore considered most necessary for physicians that they understand the speciﬁc elements. a discerning estimate of what is beautiful and what is sordid. That movement of the desiring part is virtuous which leads the yearning upwards to the really desirable and the truly beautiful.
. i. has full weight in Gregory’s thinking. 289. Accordingly. Yet if they injudiciously apply the same remedy which is applied reasonably to these. the movement of virtue is always anagogical. 10 énãgesyai tÚn pÒyon.216
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case of many physicians who aggravate the disease they are attempting to cure through their ignorance of the primary condition. 229. The uprightness of the reasoning part of the soul consists in a pious conception in what concerns the divine. 9 toË kaloË te ka‹ kakoË. we shall take this general idea as the principle and basis for the appropriate cure of the passions. vice is contemplated in this part when there is impiety in what concerns the divine. So then. leading upward. Yet again.e. one takes the light for darkness and the darkness for light (Is 5. 11 §rvtikØ dÊnam¤w te ka‹ diãyesiw. persuaded that nothing else is worth seeking in one’s own nature except virtue and a nature that overﬂows
8 Cf. k. or ‘the good and the bad’. as the Scripture says. In SR 289. j. 301.

from which comes the love of money. Now the aberration of this part is sin. I. the uprightness of the spirited disposition is enmity towards vice and warfare against the passions. those sins which pertain to the reasoning part of the soul are judged more sternly by the Fathers and merit a greater and longer and more arduous conversion. The vices of reason: those who desert the faith in Christ Once we have made these distinctions in the manner outlined above.4) and despises the threat of death and painful punishments. Since undisciplined reasoning ﬁnds no way to use its weapon13 with advantage. insults. but shall pray alone and shall be wholly excluded from the communion
12 13 14 15 16
énupÒstaton kenodoj¤an. but then condemns himself. n. rage. and an inclination to quarrel with and ﬁght oﬀ others and to prolong the memory of injury received which leads to many murders and much bloodshed. it turns the sharp edge of the iron against itself14 and the weapon given us by God for defence is used viciously for destruction.
I. the Divine Liturgy. brawls.e.e. the Eucharist. or by openly deserting15 to some other such form of atheism. ﬂeeting/frivolous vainglory.supplementary collection
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with virtue. in spiritual self-destruction. whether in favour of Judaism or idolatry or Manichaeism. l. and the stirring of the soul to bravery so that it does not shrink from the things considered by the many to be fearful. 2. Yet again.
.e. publicly known apostasy. because it wages battle for faith and for virtue. One who has run oﬀ to such a wickedness of his own accord. By parting itself from the keenest of pleasures it rises superior once and for all to those things which through custom and opinion detain the many in pleasure.e. the love of honours. i. When the mystic prayer is celebrated16 he shall not at any stage be allowed to do homage to God together with the people. I. m. as in the case of someone who denies the faith in Christ. mustik∞w §piteloum°n∞ §ux∞w. the gift of the spirited part of the soul. has for the period of his repentance the rest of his life. hatred. as appears shortly. the love of pleasure and all such things that are associated with this kind of vice. but resists sin even unto blood (Heb. 12. The falling away of this part is evident in all these things: in envy. when someone transfers his desire towards an insubstantial vanity12 or towards the superﬁcial bloom of bodies.

shall be closely questioned and examined whether they remained believers in Christ but were constrained by some necessity to that sin. 19 goÆtaw.17 Only in the hour of his exodus shall he be allowed a share in the Sacrament. so that they were beguiled by some delusory hope. Such a penitent remained at most in the vestibule petitioning the prayers of the faithful for the rest of his life. but due rather to the weakness of the body which did not hold out against the torments.
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of the sacraments. or whether they ran oﬀ to an alliance with the demons wholly contemptuous of the testimony of our faith. he shall resume living under the same judgment.e. this is the division: the one is called adultery and the other fornication. some aﬄiction or unbearable loss having implanted this impulse in them. The vices of reason: those who resort to sorcerers and mediums a.19 mediums or to some uncleanness of demons and who undertake to practice certain spells. b. 4. He goes on to interpret the concept of adultery. If he happens unexpectedly to survive. the sacrament is meant. Though it is in the plural. then clearly they shall incur the penalty of deserters. not partaking of the mystic sacraments until his exodus. the the Eucharistic communion. This is why desertion under duress and pain is allotted the same period of conversion as those who have sinned through fornication. for the holy Fathers treated them with loving kindness in this way because their fall was not of the soul. under severe duress. 18 I. Of those who fall into sin through desire and pleasure. But if some insupportable necessity cowed their weakness of soul and led them on. in such a case the same loving-kindness shall be shown them as for those who in the time of confession were unable to hold out against torment. For if they did this in rejection of the faith and because they no longer believed that the one to whom the Christians do homage is God. c. 3. covering practitioners of witchcraft and magic. Those however who were tormented by tortures and harsh punishments18 shall receive a penalty for a set period. 20 Gregory seems to tacitly mean himself. as any union which is alien to the integrity of one’s bodily nature. But it pleases some who think more accurately20 to consider the oﬀence of
17 t∞w de xoinvn¤aw t«n ègiasmãtvn. The vices of desire and pleasure a. who denied their faith in Christ unwillingly. Those who go oﬀ to sorcerers.

27 Again. and anyone who lays claim to what is not proper to himself. and a husband with a wife. d. alien. ka‹ gunaik‹ prÚw êndra.4e). 24 I. with the result that any satisfaction of desire which occurs without injury to someone else26 is reckoned as fornication. Gen 2.23 the law of nature concedes a just use.3). he maintains his sexual faculties in integrity and self-control. and a man with a woman’.e.
21 m¤a §stin ± nÒmimow suzug¤a.20–22) and one head is assigned to a woman (cf. lit. ka‹ éndr‹ prÚw guna›ka. he is committed to the virtue of chastity.
. Since the Greek terms do double duty.e. i.27 e. for the divine Scripture says. In other words. since there is only one legitimate union. meaning a woman not one’s wife. the division of adultery just mentioned. But since there has been some indulgence by the Fathers towards the weaker. Since this is the division assigned to this type of sin too. 1 Cor 11. that is proper to himself (1 Thess 4. For all that is not proper to each person is alien to him. For one helpmate is given to man by God (cf. even if he does not acknowledge what it is that is mastering him. meaning a third party. in heterosexual monogamy.28 because these are also an adultery against nature. This principle of heterosexual monogamy as the only form of legitimate sexual union. Gregory also interprets it to mean anything alien to the integrity of one’s nature. 28 I. the latter part may also be translated: ‘that of a woman with a man.22 clearly lays claim to something alien. Yet both bestiality and pederasty are also reckoned in this latter division.e. whereas adultery is a plot and an injury against another. 26 I.4). Therefore if someone possesses his own vessel. For the injury is in regard to what is alien and contrary to nature. rules out not only polygamy and heterosexual unions outside marriage but also and especially acts of homosexuality and bestiality as Gregory goes on to explain (31. that a person is puriﬁed from the passionate craving for pleasures of these kinds through penitence. as the divine Apostle calls it. the general cure applies.21 b.e. But if someone turns aside from what is proper to himself. Fornication therefore is shown to be not far from the oﬀence of adultery by those who look more accurately into its character. one’s own. 23 ‘Vessel’ refers to sexual organ. 25 prÚw éllotr¤an.20).supplementary collection
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fornication also as adultery. that of a wife with a husband. do not be intimate with the stranger25 (Prov 5. 22 ı mØ tÚ ‡dion ¶xvn. he shall become something wholly alien. the oﬀence is therefore judged according to the generic division. Accordingly all that is not legitimate certainly transgresses the law.24 c. namely a spouse. ‡dion = what pertains to oneself. a third party.

and consequently ﬁnds lenience in the penalties assigned.e. hence ‘Canon’ or church law. heterosexual acts between the unmarried. If someone is prompted of his own accord to declare his sin. 7. 31 I. Well then. of his own impulse he willingly becomes the accuser of his hidden activities. cf. h. This is why the time of conversion prescribed for those deﬁled by adultery is double and for the other forbidden vices too. 33 ‘Conversion’ seems to be used for that stage of the penance in which penitents stay for the entire Divine Liturgy but as non-communicant prostrators. that is. But one who is caught out in his vice. Sozomen’s interesting account in H. j.E. But with regard to those polluted by fornication29 a certain injury is lacking in this sin. participate in the hearing only32 for three years. For one sin consists in the unlawful pleasure and another in the injury with regard to what is alien. or who is exposed unwillingly through some suspicion or accusation shall be assigned a prolonged conversion. not be admitted to assembly at all.16. the canon is this:30 those polluted by fornication are entirely excluded from the prayer31 for three years. and again to shorten this time and grant the communion more quickly. Thus there are in all three stages of penance before ﬁnal readmission to Holy Communion.33 and then they partake of the sacraments. There is also a certain variation in the measure of repentance for those who sin through pleasure and it is this. it is permitted the one who dispenses according to what is ﬁtting34 to shorten the time of hearing by ecclesiastical dispensation and advance them more quickly to conversion. he has already begun the cure of his passion and shown evidence of a change for the better.
30
29
. 32 I. For if it is forbidden to cast
I. as he by his own examination ascertains the condition of the one undergoing treatment. normally the bishop.e. ‘rule’. g. i. 34 I. but remain in the vestibule asking the prayers of the faithful. as I was saying is doubled. and for another three years pray with those who prostrate during their conversion.220
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f. leave the Divine Liturgy after the readings and homily.e.e. that is. or a worthy presbyter appointed by him to preside over the administration of penance. so that he is admitted to the communion of the sacraments only when he is thoroughly puriﬁed. bestiality and craving for the male. ı kãnΔn. They become the equivalent of catechumens again. since the sin in these cases. In the case of those who apply themselves more earnestly to their conversion and who demonstrate their return to the good through their manner of life.

b. only the time is doubled. it has somehow pleased our Fathers not to make too close a reckoning of them or to consider the cure of all the faults that come of anger worthy of much attention. Though there are many acts of anger which give eﬀect to sin. when it has strayed from the good and fallen into sin through the use of anger. but also all insult and blasphemy and any other such acts perpetrated by anger. Maraval. it is also considered among voluntary acts when someone in a brawl and a ﬁght strikes and is struck. 5. But the lawless deeds of adultery and the other kinds of uncleanness discussed above shall all be cured with the same sentence that applies to the deﬁlement of fornication. Next. the ‘good’ refers to virtue. as
35 From 4j and the next sentence. But in this case too. 383.46) from one who is already puriﬁed and freed from passion. Besides these it remains to bring the spirited part of the soul under examination. Vices of the spirited part of the soul a. It is also used in this sense in VSM 13. Among these murder is voluntary in the ﬁrst instance when someone brazenly premeditates and prepares the execution of this deﬁling deed. For someone already mastered by anger and gratifying the impulse of wrath would not admit into mind at the moment of passion anything that could cut oﬀ the evil. and inﬂicts a mortal blow on another by his own hand.
. and all of them bad.supplementary collection
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the pearl before swine (Matt 7. Yet it also shades into partaking of Holy Communion (5h). Those acting involuntarily however have clear signs. to see whether their participation in the good35 takes place more quickly or slowly. the disposition of the one being cured shall be monitored in the same way that applies to those snared in the pollution of fornication. They only made provision in their penalties for the deﬁlement of murder. it is also absurd to withhold the pearl of great price (Matt 13. e. d. Therefore the murder that results from a brawl is regarded as a deed of choice and not as arising by chance.5). although Scripture forbids not only the blow. 180). k. and that participation in the good by virtue and by the Sacrament is participation in God.8 (GNO 8. This kind of vice is divided by the diﬀerence between the voluntary and the involuntary. c. the common element being that God alone is good.1.

There are three times nine years. so that if his conversion proves credible. h. so that instead of nine years for each rank. the loving-kindness of the Fathers bids that he participate in the sacraments lest he be sent on that last and great journey deprived of viaticum. and if in his zeal for amendment he surpasses those who have undertaken to purify themselves from their stains more easily in the lengthy period prescribed. it may become eight or seven or six. the time of penance assigned to murder is extended threefold for those who through conversion are being cured of a voluntary deﬁlement. the number of years is not strictly observed and he is led through a shortened time to restoration with the church and to a participation in the Good. Just as many years continue in hearing. barred from the Church. and so he attains to participation in the Sacrament. he prays with those who prostrate during their conversion. a nine year period being ﬁxed for each rank. there will be the same monitoring by the one dispensing the Church. so that a nine year period is spent in complete segregation. let him continue in the appointed time at the stage he had reached when in view of necessity he was granted Communion. the canon declares him already contaminated by the deﬁling deed and expelled from the priestly grace.
36
toË oﬁkonomoËntow tØn §kklhs¤an.36 and in proportion to his conversion the duration of his penalty shall be shortened. The involuntary deed is judged pardonable. Among these cases. But if he has partaken of the Sacrament and then returns again to life. Yet even in such a case. But if someone is departing this life without having fulﬁlled the time ﬁxed by the canons. or even ﬁve years. It was judged ﬁtting that the same time of puriﬁcation assigned to simple fornication also be assigned to those who have committed murder involuntarily. f. g. if the magnitude of his conversion outstrips the time. In this case too the will of the penitent is assessed. when he listens only to the teachers and the Scriptures. i.222
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when someone is engaged in something else and perpetrates a fatal act by accident. I have said this to make it clear that because he has been involved in the taint of murder even if unwillingly.
. but hardly commendable. and then after he is deemed worthy of being among the people.

theft by direct violence. and drawing oﬀ another’s property as one’s own through being in a dominant position. not been examined and not assigned treatment.e. Hence this kind of inﬁrmity has ﬂourished in the churches. Nevertheless in the divine Scripture both usury (Lev.37 c. The reasoning. A compound vice: avarice a. imagines that the beautiful is in material things and hence it does not look above to the immaterial for the beautiful. e. we deem it suﬃcient on the principle of public teaching. and no-one is concerned whether any of those being advanced to the clergy are themselves tainted with this kind of idolatry. Theft then is divided into robbery38 and burglary.
. erring in its judgment of the beautiful. even if such a practice happens to be under cover of a business transaction. f. as in banditry. Col 3. but even the root of all evils (1 Tim 6. there is a great
37 For a conspicuous case of episcopal simony (bartering church oﬃce) which had repercussions in Gregory’s own life. and the combative and spirited disposition too ﬁnds many opportunities in this kind of sin. 25. But since such cases have been passed over by our Fathers.14) are among the things forbidden.5)—I do not know why it has been overlooked by our Fathers and not assigned a cure.37) and ﬁnancial oppression (Ps 72. Though the aim of both is to carry oﬀ what belongs to others. this disease corresponds to the apostolic deﬁnition of avarice. as a kind of compound condition. this kind of disease has been overlooked.supplementary collection
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6. i. But as to that alternative species of idolatry—for this is what the divine Apostle calls avarice (Eph 5. and consider only theft. Nevertheless. for such is the tradition that has come down to us from the succession of the Fathers. and the desire inclines to what is below and falls away from that which truly is worth wanting. For the divine Apostle not only declares it idolatry. b. highway robbery and piracy. see the introduction to letter 17.5. that in purifying the inﬁrmities of avarice through the word we treat them. Indeed this vice seems to be a passion of the threefold state of the soul. as far as possible. we will add to what has already been said the canonical sentence for acts acknowledged to be forbidden. If we for our part are worthy of belief in what concerns the authority of canons.10). d. grave-robbing and sacrilege as morbid conditions. 38 l˙ste¤an. In a word then.

The dispenser of course may shorten the time of the penalty ﬁxed in the canons if he observes from his life the healing of the one undergoing treatment. inasmuch as one found guilty of murder and one who purloined the things dedicated to God incurred the same punishment of stoning. b. in order that by the relinquishing of what he has he may show himself puriﬁed of the disease of avarice. doing honest work. so that a lighter puriﬁcation is ﬁxed for such
. that he may able to give to those who have need (Eph 4. according to the distinction set out in the foregoing discussion. but rather let him labour. this is condemned with the same sentence as simple fornication. For the robber even takes the taint of murder as an ally of his purpose. so that if through repentance such a one brings himself back to the church of God he must be subject to the sentence for those who commit homicide. when the material has been transferred to something more important and of common beneﬁt. Custom however treats it as pardonable. and prepares for it with arms and assistants and opportunities of place. In the ancient Scripture. For we have this saying: Let the thief no longer steal.224
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diﬀerence of approach between the two. But raking through the ash of the body returned to dust and shifting the bones in the hope of ﬁnding some valuable buried along with them. his inﬁrmity is cured through zeal for the opposite of this passion. 8. 7. The vices of avarice: sacrilege a. Grave-robbing is divided into what is pardonable and what is not pardonable. and only makes use of stones from the facing of the tomb in order to build something else. so that the shame of our nature is not exposed to the sun. I do not know how. sacrilege was assigned no lighter condemnation than that for murder. And if he has nothing. I mean through bestowing what he has on the poor. b. g. But in the custom of the church there has come about.28). If someone spares what deserves respect and leaves the interred body intact. But if anyone by secret pilfering appropriates what is another’s and then declares his oﬀence in confession to the priest. The vices of avarice: grave-robbing a. a certain condescension and accommodation. the Apostle bids him expiate such a passion through bodily labour. this of course is not commendable.

303) a copy of the Exposition of the Faith by John Maron. c. 220–222. 46. a monk of Beit Maroun in Apamea who in c. 1 Cor 4. Letter 32 To the monk Philip
The existence of an otherwise lost letter of St Gregory of Nyssa To the monk Philip was long known from three surviving fragments: the title.
. Gollandi included Damascene’s version among Gregory’s works at P. For as a noble son you owe it to one who begot you according to God (cf. Joseph Assemani. ad Philippum’. Do not cease to oﬀer the customary prayers to God for us. were put together in great haste from what was at hand. 94. (Paris. . Recherches de Science Religieuse 11 (1921).1496C).1112C. that it may go well with you and that may live long in the land (Ex 20. These things which we have sent to you.G. 1828B) and in the 8th century by St John Damascene (Contra Jacobitas.15.12 + Deut 5. 686 was elected the ﬁrst Maronite patriarch of Antioch (d. In the early 18th cent. though it may fall somewhat short of the measure of your noble nature. P. Conclusion d.G. the father of modern Syriac studies. Syr. e. for the tradition of the Fathers has assigned to such as these a penalty of lesser duration than for adultery.2. the incipit. Ep.supplementary collection
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a disease. Leontius of Jerusalem (Contra Monophysitas.G. It covers 32. . free of error) below. Gustave Bardy drew renewed attention to the Syriac version of the letter in ‘Saint Grégoire de Nysse. 707).16).4–14a (. discovered in a ms. according to the commandment of him who charged us to honour our parents.9) to sustain him in his old age with your prayers. since we had to respond to the instructions of the brothers with haste. introducing it as ‘From Gregory brother of Mar Basil. Always in dealing with this kind of fault it is ﬁtting before all else to note what may be the disposition of the one undergoing cure and not suppose that the time itself is adequate for the cure—for what healing is eﬀected merely through time?—but rather the will of the one who is healing himself through his own conversion. P. and a short theological passage preserved by the outstanding 6th century defender of Chalcedon. O man of God. 86. You will surely then receive this letter as a priestly token and not dishonour a hospitable oﬀering. The recovery of a full text of this letter is a marvel of gradual collaborative research over two centuries. In his treatise Maron included a Syriac translation of much of this letter. in the letter he sent to the monk Philip on the objection the Arians bring against us’. 2 Cor 7.

Revue Thomiste 68 (1968). St John Chrysostom. on 7 May 1936 in Florence: Laurenzio di San Marco 584. which transcribed the forms of the Greek as it found them.226
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where he republished a French translation by M. the indefatigable researcher of manuscripts and library inventories. But the argument is very conjectural and seems far-fetched.
He bases himself (192.g. 39. Alerted to the existence of this letter. the assignment of this letter to Gregory of Nyssa has been queried. Codici latini Pico Grimani e di altra bilioteca ignota del secolo XVI esistente greci di Pio di Modena. n. e. The Ottoboniani ms. Zaccaria. Mercati’s study of Laurenzio di San Marco 584 is found in ‘Di alcuni manoscritti Ottoboniani non consciuti’. 112–113 addressed to a Seleucus. This translation is made from his edition of the letter on pp. of Bobbio which contained the Librum Athanasii contra Apollinarem (Book of Athanasius against Apollinaris) which is also found in the Laurenzio ms. is written in an elegant Carolingian hand. but this is surely anachronistic. in its turn had been copied from a much older ms. The above doubts do not oﬀer enough warrant to set aside the unanimous attribution to Gregory by the three ancient witnesses. in the description of a manuscript by the 17th cent. ﬀ. According to Mercati (187) very few Latin translations of St Athanasius were transmitted in the Carolingian era. Despite the unanimous testimony of Leontius. located in the Biblioteca Aragonese in Naples a Latin translation of the whole letter in Ottoboniani lat. Giovanni Mercati. Marco in 1437 through Nicolò Niccoli and from there had passed to the Laurentian Library in 1808. 3) on fragments of a letter by Amphilochius. Nau of the Syriac translation. Mercati subsequently identiﬁed the source. the three Cappadocian Fathers. But. ms. Jesuit. and even from a Nestorian provenance.G. Mercati (192–193) has no doubts that its Christology is of the late 4th century. He ﬁnally located this ms. but proposes Amphilochius of Iconium as the author instead. 194–195. he identiﬁed a ms. 40 In ‘Le vocabulaire de l’union et du rapport des natures chez saint Grégoire de Nysse’. 533–582 at 577 note. 169–202 at 191–196. This is a 9th cent. direct or mediated. Pouchet40 considers that it comes from the ﬁfth century. Marco in Florence. Maraval is non committal about its authenticity. P. but only by a rather strained exercise of recasting Seleucus as the addressee and not the occasion of the letter. 57–58.
39
. The Laurenzio ms. This ms.-R. a mid 16th century manuscript which once belonging to the Dominican house of S. Damascene and Maron. of the Ottoboniani ms. St Cyril of Alexandria and Proclus of Constantinople. thanks to the Catalogi bibliothecarum antiqui by Becker. 1938). with Greek words appearing here and there in the text. contains a collection of Latin translations of Greek fathers: St Athanasius. all meant as material for the controversy with Protestants in that period. well rendered and without accents. Studi e Testi 75 (Città del Vaticano. 70. which had came into the library of S.39 J.

the so-called ‘Acacian’ schism. Pope Gelasius ‘head-hunted’ Dionysius and invited him to Rome in 496 for his much needed services in the papal chancery. appears to be rather free (indeed making a glaring error in oﬀering ‘substances’ as a synonym of ‘persons’). as far as can be judged from the French. c. was instrumental in bringing the schism to an end. 400. while reserving persona to translate its precise Greek equivalent. concurred with Nicene and orthodox doctrine that Jesus Christ was the incarnation
41
On Dionysius. from the Anomoians to the Homoiousians. prÒsvpon. The translator is critically aware that he is dealing with terms fraught with dogmatic signiﬁcance and that he must not misrepresent them. He is even careful to replicate conjunctions. given the use of consubstantialis to translate ımooÊsiow. as is proved in a comparison of the surviving Greek fragment and his translation. whose concern at the confusion in Church aﬀairs put them into contact with Rome. on only one obvious occasion resorting to ampliﬁcatio when he oﬀers a Latin synonym of the term sunalifÆn—which he transcribes anyway. 345–408). The whole spectrum of Arianizing theology.41 Dionysius was a highly educated bilingual monk from the western shores of the Black Sea. takes a very diﬀerent approach. The Latin translation however. see Gallagher. Doctrinally the present letter is especially interesting in that it canvasses a nexus between Arian theology and Christology. and that of John Scotus Eriugena.
. though it did help elucidate some points. The milieu of Christological crisis in which he worked would explain his interest in the doctrinal contents of this letter. Rome and Constantinople were then in their ﬁrst schism over imperial and patriarchal appeasement of the Monophysites. 1–18. Hence he translates his Greek source very scrupulously. He appears to have been a monk in a monastery of Latin speaking ‘Scythian’ monks in Constantinople. He turned out a Latin translation in whose testamentary reliability anyone not literate in Greek could aﬀord to place full conﬁdence. He transliterates one important Greek term synusiaste that has no easy Latin correlate. the Dobrudja region of modern Romania (as St John Cassian had been). Dionysius’ familiarity with Gregory of Nyssa is shown by his translation of Gregory’s On the Making of Man (PL 67. in which. 800? Both the linguistic expertise and the ecclesiastical career of Dionysius Exiguus (465–550) are suggestive. He renders §pe¤sakton exactly as ‘subintroductum’. which is important to Christology since Gregory’s account of the Incarnation is profoundly informed by his anthropological understanding. op. cit. he remedied problems arising from previous bad translations. Dionysius’ work as a mediator between the Greek speaking and Latin speaking churches. inter alia.. He uses subsistentia as the exact Latin correlate of hypostasis. Where would one ﬁnd a Latin translator with such a brief for exactitude in Greek and Latin and with such theological scupulosity between the period of Jerome and Ruﬁnus c.supplementary collection
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The Syriac translation. prepositions and ‘colouring’ particles.

as did many others throughout the 380s.19) invited the eventual clariﬁcation of the dogma of the hypostatic union in the following century. not so much with the dynamic of the Incarnation as such.
. Thus the Arian Christ was not God but a creature. its account of the unity. or. and Eunomianism which was militantly opposed to the truly divine nature of the Logos. an Anomoian. As Gregory summarizes Philip’s report (32. hence the survival of the Greek fragments and the Syriac translation. if not. he was either the superior or a senior of a monastic community (‘you and those who are with you’ 32.8d. but because the pre-existent Logos itself of which he was the incarnation was not really divine but created. Seleucus had brashly misapplied considerations from oikonomia concerning the incarnate Christ. 102. of which the author of this letter is surely well aware. to theologia on the nature of the preexistent Logos and the Trinity. at least seek the assurance of an authoritative exposition from Gregory. has some kind of pastoral responsibility for ‘the faithful’ (32. It is no diﬃcult task for Gregory to sort out the ineptitudes of such argumentation. one might infer that Philip and his community were in Syria. or ultra-Arian. not because he was an ‘inspired man’ like a prophet. From the fact that the three ancient witnesses of the letter were all located in the Levant. the ‘single entity’ (32.2). The letter nevertheless reveals the Antiochene Word/Man Christology typical of Gregory which can be seen in this volume in letter 3. The result is as exact an account of Christ as one person existing in two integral natures as can be found before the Christological deﬁnitions of the 5th century—perhaps not even excepting Nazianzen’s famous Christological letters 101. The addressee. He appears to be of the educated class and of some social rank. It seems safe to say that Seleucus is a follower of the rationalist theologian Eunomius. 202.13) in Christ did not ultimately prove suﬃcient. The dispute was over what it meant to call the Logos ‘divine’. John Damascence and John Maron at any rate fastened on 32. Given his title as ‘monk’.2–3). Philip has written to tell Gregory of a certain Seleucus who has attempted to bait the community with what he thinks are new objections to the doctrine of the Homoousians (the Nicene orthodox). He is.8 (as also in letter 3. in short. This together with the inadequacy of ‘blending’ and ‘becoming’ terminology in 32.228
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of the pre-existent ‘divine’ Logos. with which region Gregory of Nyssa had many contacts as his brother Basil had. While this type of Christology was very clear on the integrity of Christ’s two natures. however sublime in rank. which party was still causing much trouble in the 380s. It was uncertain whether the Greek term prÒsvpon had suﬃcient theological weight at that time to denote this unity— compare its use for example in letter 35. steering clear as he does so of the Christological pitfalls of both Apollinarism which shortchanged the integrity of Christ’s humanity. Philip and his circle are either intimidated. Leontius.1).8–9 as patristic support for their refutation of Monophysitism. Philip.

but it is not in the text.supplementary collection To the monk Philip. he the greater. 46 consubstantialitas. Brieﬂy then. For we do not say that he is of one nature in his divinity and ﬂesh.47 and were said to be also subject to passion in his divine nature—which is impossible—the things said by that gentleman Seleucus might perhaps have some basis. = ımoousiÒthw. then manifestly the Father pre-exists the Son and is the maker. Let me say this with reference to the noble43 Seleucus. if the diﬀerence between persons in the Trinity separates what is greater from what is lesser. I. Your worthy letter recalled how that absurd man. the consubstantiality of the divine Logos with God the Father. . 43 propter bonum virum Seleucum.42 and those who incline themselves to it conceive a disdain for all that is good. The French of the Syriac later in the occurrence of this phrase in 32. on the objections of the Arians
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1. he the one sending. ÉH kak¤a g°nnhmã §sti cux∞w . Secondly. brought an objection to you and those who are with you.e. 44 passibilis. 2. 47 The force of the antithesis would seem to require ‘divine’ nature here. that if the Son is subject to passion44 and the Father is not subject to passion. I will come to the subject of your enquiry. If the Son—which is an astonishing thing—is subject to passion in his nature. as in the
42 The Greek of the title and the incipit is: prÚw F¤lippon monãzonta per‹ t«n ÉAreian«n éntiy°sevn. 4. But to leave that aside. languishing in the Arian sickness. of the pre-existent Logos with God.
. whereas the latter is a creature and something made. 3. . 6. I consider. or perhaps there is an ironical edge to Gregory’s use of it. and other things of this kind. Malice is something begotten in the soul. Either this reﬂects Seleucus’ age and social standing. For I realized from what you have written the kind of evils he is causing the faithful in these strange times. 48 I. = §npãyhw. the latter the lesser. we take up the ﬁrst objection. But if he is subject to passion in his human nature and is not subject to passion in his divine nature—which is what the faithful confess—the scope of consubstantiality48 is preserved. inviolate. and the kind of memory he has of us on account of the hope which is in us (1 Pet 3.15). = épayÆw. 45 impassibilis. with God as our co-worker.45 then consubstantiality46 is dissolved and has no basis.e.4 has ‘du venerable Seleucus’. the latter the one sent. You ask me pressingly for a suﬃcient answer to these objections. 5.

13.10–15. 52 sunalifÆn id est . attest Cassiodorus (5th/6th cent. d. 53 essentiam. Eustathius the monk and Leontius of Jerusalem for those who asserted Christ’s ﬂesh to be of the same substance as his divinity. but a doublet also exists in the French translation of the Syriac version. however a doublet also appears in the Syriac translation. Gregory also uses the term ‘person’ in Trinitarian theology in letter 34.51 so we do not introduce a coalescing52 of persons as did Sabellius. a negative.
. 8.49 but that he has a twofold existence50 and is susceptible to passion in the one and not subject to it in the other. how can we in view of this speculate whether there was a time when the Father was unoccupied with being Father. Otherwise.6. .1. See the account of Apollinarian Christology by Gregory Nazianzen. the Father ‹is› always and the Son ‹is› always. . Otherwise one might think that the Latin translator is glossing oÈs¤a (essentia). Leontius of Byzantium. 10. Cyril of Alexandria. 54 I have cast the sentence as a question to make sense of the Latin text as it stands. hence we should not speculate . Since in truth the Father does not precede the Son. and when he came down he brought with Him that ﬂesh which apparently he had in Heaven. 56 inhumanatus. 8c.e. on the contrary. i. especially 202. . the Greek term is transliterated. Cassiodorus was a friend of Dionysius Exiguus.56 par-
49 Synusiaste. existentia must translate something like Ïparjiw. which usually has a connotation of existence in a subject (cf.’ 50 sed duplex existens. Letter 202. it is clear that the being and substance55 of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit is one. The sense then would be: ‘Since the Father in truth . one might be tempted to think the Latin translator is glossing hypostases. but is co-equal with him in all things except causality. and the Son unoccupied with being Son?54 9.’ 55 existentia et essentia. We acknowledge a diﬀerence of hypostases or of persons. the Latin translator transcribes the Greek term and then glosses it with a synonym. the proposed translator of this letter. For he alone. and person appears in the Greek text in 32. 221C). which seems to be present in John Maron’s translation.13).4g. Èpãrxvn in 32.12: ‘As though even before he came down he was the Son of Man. sunousiastÆw was used by Diodorus of Tarsus. Lewis and Short. may have dropped out (Bardy 1921..1. In Gregory’s time synousia was a badge of Apollinarian doctrine. If. commixtionem. Latin Dictionary.) for this term. although indeed the Son assumed for us a created nature. . . Let us solve also the second objection. oÈs¤a. 51 subsistentiarum sive personarum.230
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absurdities of those who say he is of ‘blended substance’. The word also appears in the Codex Iustinianus 1. And we confess that the holy Trinity has but one substance53 admitting neither addition nor diminution. as though it had existed before the ages and been joined with his substance. The Greek original is §nanyrvpÆsaw. being made man. 7. here translated to keep the terminology consistent as it would have been in Gregory’s Greek. .

but that the one Son existent in his own ﬂesh. and that he was not thereby banished at some time from the Father’s substance as some think. and he did not. they should know very well that these things are predicated of him in the ﬂesh. with regard to what is unconfusible:63 for what is divine is other. circumscribed and uncircumscribed.38 14.62 yet they are not so in nature. 65 XristÚw dÊo Ípãrxvn fÊse¤w. 60 The Greek fragment anthologised by Leontius and Damascence commences at this point. apart from the body.7. a diﬃcult passage. 64 (Continuing from Greek above) ßteron går tÚ ye›on para tÚ s«ma. so that even his humanity had pre-existence. his self-emptying. which Apollinarians had apparently advanced with their notions of Christ as the heavenly man based on 1 Cor 15. the Latin: ‘aliud est enim id quod divinum est praeter corpus. 63 (Continuing from Greek above) éllÉ oÈ tª fÊsei diå tÚ ésÊgkutÒn. cease to be God or quit his consubstantiality with the Father. sed unus existens Filius cum propria carne.30). mortal and immortal. For who among the wise does not know that the60 things which are consubstantial possess identity.19. in the imagery of Phil 2. 59 et non consubstantialis idem ipse non secundum id ipsum. where he attempts to account for the moment of Christ’s conception in the womb of Mary. tå d¢ §teroous¤a tÚ énãpalin.
As in his kenosis.58 is both consubstantial with the Father. . his diminishment. Christ then. for it is brought in from without. . 62 Kín går érrÆtƒ ka‹ éfrãstƒ •n≈sei tå sunamfÒtera ßn. subintroductum est enim’.57 his being sent and other such things. I say. evidently meaning that Christ’s created human nature is not consubstantial with the divine nature. because in these last times he was made man. existing65 in two natures and truly made known in them. 61 tå m¢n ımooÊsia tautÒthta k°kthtai. and the same himself not consubstantial with what is not in accord with itself.10 17. tautÒthta here cannot mean subjective identity but objective identity: the qualities of the divine nature in each of the Trinity are identical.45–49).supplementary collection
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took of both created and uncreated nature.21) and other similar passages.
58
57
.59 12. 11. But since they bring up against the Son his creatureliness. Jn 10. I in the Father and the Father in me (cf.64 13. §pe¤sakton gãr. . This is not perhaps the happiest formulation in the light of later deﬁnitions. It does however accord with Gregory’s Christology as expressed in letter 3. but that is otherwise with things of diﬀerent substance?61 For even if the two together are one in an ineﬀable and indescribable unity. The voice of the Lord provides ﬁrm assurance of this where he says I and the Father are one ( Jn 10.

8. We have brieﬂy written these things in order to refute the foolishness of the noble Seleucus. 2. see letter 33. It seems to stem from a mix of Arabic and Roman numeration in the title page. 71 It may be pointed out that there is some bibliographical confusion with regard to this article. Müller) GNO 3. mss.41. The longer version is transmitted among the works of Gregory of Nyssa. 1903). P. Maran) of the letters of St Basil.48–69. 326–330. fas-
.69 Amen. 3. vol 5. excellent for its time. which has ‘Studi e Testi 11 (two or eleven?)’. Origen had taught that prayer to Christ was insuﬃcient. 68 inconfusibilem tamen et indivisibilem portat in semetipso Verbi et animatae carnis diﬀerentiam per quam intiger proprietatum conservator sermo. 69 That Gregory addresses prayer to Christ is noteworthy.132–141. On the textual transmission see GNO 3. Letter 33 To Eustathius the physician70
A shorter version of present letter appears as letter 189 in the Benedictine edition (ed. Oﬀer up supplications for us always to him who dispels evils and is our saviour.66 yet bears in himself the unconfusible67 and indivisible distinction between the Word and the ensouled ﬂesh. and to conﬁrm you and those who love the truth. in ‘La lettere ad Eustazio de Sancta Trinitate ossia la 189 tra le lettere di S. to whom be the glory unto ages of ages. BBV 1. 3–16. and ‘Varia Sacra. ‘**EustArc 2/189’.1. Also transmitted as Basil Letter 189.613–615. face. fascicolo I. Giovanni Mercati was the ﬁrst in modern times to argue Gregory’s authorship of this letter.’ One can only conjecture that the immediate mention of the ‘undivisible’ did not serve the anti-Monophysite purpose of the anthologists. ed. LC.: NPNF ser. 2. through which the principle of the properties is preserved integrally. xi–xxiv. Christ. mask) in Greek. Basilio’. Def. Studi e Testi 11 (Roma: Tipograﬁa Vaticana. For I want you to preserve your conscience free of error (cf. 228–232.1.: Courtonne 2. 57–70 (study). needed to be sharpened with use of hypostasis and divine hypostasis. Given the ambivalences of prÒsvpon (person. it will be seen that this formulation. 71–82 (ﬁrst edition of the complete form of the letter under Gregory’s name). 70 Ed. tr. yet unconfused.71 In this study Mercati
66 monadikÚn ¶xei t∞w uﬂÒthtow tÚ prÒsvpon. rounding oﬀ the citation in this form: ‘a unique person as Son. Some passages appear only in the longer version. NPNF ser. Varia Sacra.9) and to shun the snares of the more widespread and malign heresies. and there are several variants distinguishing the texts of the two transmissions. tr.232
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has the person of his sonship as a single entity. for Christian prayer was properly addressed to the Father. vol. 1 Tim 3. & tr.: (F.: VPBM.68 14. For a profound justiﬁcation of prayer to Christ from a Trinitarian perspective. 67 The Greek text ceases at this point.

the other ‘Nyssen’.73 neither of which councils had been considered by Maran. of operations) and 6d. 14.9 which appears only in the Nyssen recension. No such lineage can be demonstrated for the Basilian recension.G. Serruys. 8c (but the . ‘Anastasiana’. This is also the case in the acts of the sixth ecumenical council. . In Müller’s edition (and elsewhere) Mercati’s article is dated 1924. 74 W. 8b (yet through . a new passage that appears only in the Nyssen recension. In considering the two diﬀerent versions. Mercati proved from the type of variants used that the Greek text in both Rome and Constantinople was again of the ‘Nyssen’ recension. Mansi X 1073–6. It is only in the new passage 9a. whereas the actual book I have before my eyes declares 1903. 1 and not l is used and eleven is meant. Mélanges d’Archéologie et d’Histoire 22 (1902). of Antiquorum Patrum Doctrina de Verbi Incarnatione on the incarnation of the Word. Mansi XI 425–428. that the argument can be seen to continue without a break. . can be shown to belong intrinsically to the sequence of the argument. And one may also note the exactitude of the Latin translation in the acts of that council. such as benefactor and judge have been discussed. St Maximus the Confessor. 284.
. Catalogue of Syriac Mss II. possibly Anastasius of Sinai. 157ﬀ. which declared that the Greek text of 6a (let them show then . 170 ﬀ. 7e–g. 618. 76 P. In addition. when it begins to deal with names which denote dignity. Wright. a jolt. to the doctrinal conclusion in 7h. . in his diversae deﬁnitiones sanctorum divinorum Patrum de duabus operationibus . Without it there is a sudden leap. . who was a contemporary of the Lateran council. . There was also the Syriac version in the codex British Museum Add. . 8c speaks of those names surrounding substance ‘which take their names from some operation or dignity’. Turning to internal evidence.. the operator). of a concluding passage of 8c (‘but the commonality consisting of nature is manifestly proved through the identity of operations’) he proved that the Greek text used by the Lateran council of 649 was deﬁnitely of the ‘Nyssen’ type. These passages are 7h. 91. and in 8b examples of names indicating operation. 682. from the suggestion that ‘clear evidence from his own life’ is about to be considered. one ‘Basilian’.)–6d received from Rome agreed with the Patriarch of Constantinople’s codex. Similarly with the same from of 8b also shared between Rome and Constantinople. . It needs almost a magnifying glass to establish that on balance. Iesu Christi76 cites four passages from this letter to Eustathius the physician. 7/8th cent.
cicolo I’. 680–681. 73 The sixth ecumenical council.9).75 Mercati built his case on evaluations of previously unpublished sections of the letter (above all 33. . beginning with Lateran Council I72 and Constantinople III.74 and the author. Similarly with the last long section 33.supplementary collection
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analysed the ancient testimonies which unanimously attest Gregory’s authorship. under St Gregory of Nyssa’s name and according to the Nyssen recension. 72 AD 649. 75 D.

446. parchment. v the Benedictine edition of ‘Basil Letter 189. Ibid. taken from a ‘copy of Basil’. 46 241C. As in letter 1. 370. P.’ i. 11th cent. from the Frobeniana Basilii Magni.17–103.G. Mercati points out some striking correspondences of 33. and a graphic image (2a). GNO 8. Monacensis gr. printed in 1532.G.253. OMK. 1320–1. paper.102. EJ. Opera Dogmatica Minora. 12th cent. 12th cent. Pasquali did not include this letter in his edition. 35. 13th cent. i.77 On Perfection78 and especially in Against the Macedonians 16. Vindobonensis theol gr. but is paralleled with almost identical expressions in Gregory’s On the Christian Profession.e.. (the Syriac version) Musei Britannici 768 Add. 253D. parchment. 7th/8th cent. 14 618. 67. or on the Sorceress. marginal readings in L. 12th cent.9 with phraseology in Gregory’s other works. Leidensis Gronovianus 12. 1907.e.1. Venetus Marcianus gr.5. 11th cent.101–108 at 102 and 104–106.134. 45. Vaticanus gr.2.79 The aﬃnity with Gregory’s other writings can also be demonstrated with the known parts of the letter.234
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Contra Maran. 10th cent. parchment. 68. xi–xxiv ( praefatio) 1–16 (text). Stylistic features and themes found in Gregory’s other works also occur in 2b. Vaticanus gr. GNO 8. 5e. GNO 3. parchment. and so it did not appear in the
77 78 79 80 81
P.81 The following are the codices collated: Venetus Marcianus gr. A L S E J O M K syr b The codices grouped into three textual families: ALS. In 1958 Friedrich Müller published a new edition of the letter.3–6.1. Ambrosianus C 135 inf. GNO 3. In conclusion there can be little doubt that the longer version of the letter transmitted among Gregory’s works and under his name is the full and original form of the letter.1.80 Gregory’s classic epistolary pattern is clearly observable in this letter.1. a pithy sententia. parchment.. GNO 3. m Mercati’s edition of 1924 (1903 in reality). The extended treatment of the name Christ (‘anointed’) and the Holy Spirit as anointing can be found nowhere else in Basil’s writing. the ‘Basilian’ recension. To give just one example: much of what is said in 5e about the sorceress who called up Samuel’s spirit and about Balaam can be closely paralleled with passages in Gregory’s small treatise de Pythonissa. followed by a transitional sentence and the detailed application to the case in hand (2b).
. paper. paper 16th cent. both his typical opening ambits are found. not only can no opposition to Gregory’s authorship be maintained on stylistic grounds.

to include it in the present collection of St Gregory’s letters. 19. or had been Eustathius. 8d. 22. Gregory is attempting to deal with the prejudices and correct the misunderstandings of the Pneumatomachoi (‘Spirit-ﬁghters’). This forms the doctrinal backdrop of the letter. His partisans. its focus is really on the Holy Spirit as one of the Trinity.supplementary collection
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GNO republication of his edition. also in the context of Pneumatomachian accusations. The ninth and last section. a physician and an orthodox Christian. 1–17). continued to foment trouble in the see of Sebasteia after their leader’s death.1 xi–xxiv. So the letter is better dated to a period after 381. once the great friend of Emmelia’s family. found only in the Nyssen recension. it is not unreasonable. letter 5. is an exercise in scriptural exegesis. and his pagination is indicated in square brackets. Ever since the council of Alexandria in 362 the Neo-nicenes had made the clariﬁcation of the terms used for the Holy Trinity part of their mission. On energeia see also letter 24. ‘operation’) in relation to God in 33. whose leader was. The relationship evidently continued after his death with Gregory. with subversiﬁcation added using letters of the alphabet. when Eustathius of Sebasteia may have still been alive. however. ‘substance’) and §n°rgeia (here.6e–g. Basil’s Letter 151 is addressed to the same Eustathius. Müller published it instead in a volume of minor dogmatic works (GNO 3.5c. Here Gregory argues in characteristic fashion that the identical operations of Father. Cf. The physician has written to Gregory to urge him speak up against those who libel him with advocating three gods. Son and Holy Spirit that are demonstrated in Scripture establish that the whole Trinity is involved in all saving acts. with the use of the term hypostasis.
. The letter is especially important for its exposition of the terms oÈs¤a (here. Is it tempting to date this letter early in the period after Gregory’s restoration. where the same doctrine is rehearsed. 378–379.1. whom Eustathius regards as a public defender of orthodox doctrine. See the prefatory note to letter 35. 7f–h. The eight sections of the Basilian editions are re-employed here. letter 35. explaining that if the Holy Spirit bestows the anointing of the Christ (the Anointed). now that its true authorship is acknowledged. as can be seen in letters 18. For although the inscriptions in the Gregorian transmission all describe the letter as ‘on the Trinity’. The translation is from Müller’s edition in GNO 3. he must of necessity partake of the royal dignity that he confers. and it is doubtful that Peter became bishop there until the Council of Constantinople of 381 began to take aﬀect in the churches of the east. But since it has been published for so long among St Basil’s letters.14.

The title in all Basilian mss.
. which sometimes drives home its point even with the truth. that the Spirit is God’ OK. But with you the science is especially dextrous and you enlarge for yourself the scope of its philanthropy. and add the thematic description in OK. 85 Especially hard to understand because the protagonist of the Pneumatomachoi was Eusthathius of Sebasteia. but to refute the slanderers. Müller follows AL. 84 cux¤k«n érrvsthmãtvn. not ‘spiritual’ illnesses. since you do not limit the bestowal of your art to bodies.236
supplementary collection To Eustathius the physician on the Holy Trinity and against the Pneumatomachoi. 4] by the irrigation of your soothing words. ‘From the same to Eustathius (on the Holy Trinity K. Those therefore who took up this causeless hatred against us seemed to be behaving somewhat as in Aesop’s fable.83 And it seems to me that one who preferred your science to all pursuits of this life would hit upon the proper judgment and not miss the mark—that is if that which is valued above all else.84 1c. that the Spirit is God 82
1a. in years past a close friend to Gregory of Nyssa’s family. S. lest harm come to many through a triumph of the lie over the truth. O) and against the pneumatochoi. with one ms. supported by S in the Nyssen transmission. 2a. 1b. adding a thematic description. For just as he
82 ‘From Gregory bishop of Nyssa to Eustathius on the Holy Trinity’ AL.1 and note. I deemed it right to remain silent and bear their attacks quietly rather than contradict those armed with the lie. 83 On Gregory’s esteem of the medical profession see letter 13. life. allaying the intense inﬂammation of our heart [GNO 3. I say this not only because I echo what many report. ‘To Eustathius the physician concerning enquiries about ‘the three [gods] advocated by us’. and against the pneumatomachoi’. 1d. and it is health which your art procures. but also give thought to remedying the inﬁrmities of the mind. emotional disturbances. but also because of what I myself have learned from experience on several other occasions and especially now in this unaccountable85 malice of our enemies. is ‘To Eustathius the chief physician’. but maladies of the psyche. For it had swept over our life like a destructive ﬂood. om.1. For when I considered the repeated and varied attempts of our enemies against us. that vicious weapon. I have added in ‘the physician’. To distinguish the Eustathius. when skilfully you dispersed it. You did well however in urging me not to surrender the truth. is repugnant and full of pain if one cannot have it with health. All you who practice medicine surely have philanthropy for your profession.

not ‘honouring’.
86 87
The same sentiment occurs in letter 1. When they are thrown oﬀ one charge [GNO 3. So it is with those who have pursued their hatred against us as if it were one of the good works. But then the truth ﬁghts for us.] they cling to another. they argue that their custom does not condone it and Scripture does not support it. and then again something else. we confront this too with our habitual armour. writing in response to a query by a friend. since this verb was not used by the Cappadocian
fathers for worship. he conquers with his teeth.331–336. and if all their charges are refuted. never ceasing to deck it out persuasively. that we anathematise anyone who says that there are three gods. NPNF 2nd ser. And in saying this they do not depart from the truth. 3a. tr. 2d. still they do not desist from their hatred. while they do not abide by in any of their assertions. they have Sabellius to hand to use against us. has the wolf in no way slacken his attack. What then? After all these attempts did they grow weary and hold their peace? No indeed! Now they accuse of innovation. They accuse us of advocating87 three gods and din this slander into the ears of the many.
presbeÊesyai. noisily detecting in our argument the plague that came from him. but ‘acting as ambassador for’.1.supplementary collection
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has the wolf bring certain charges against the lamb—being ashamed evidently of appearing to destroy without just cause one who had done him no harm. 5. they invent charges and complaints against us. for we make it plain both publicly to all and privately to those we meet. 37–57. Indeed we do not even regard such a one a Christian. They claim that though we confess three hypostases.1. 5. But in making this charge. So again. Their malice has no ﬁrm ground. the truth. As the reason for their enmity against us they allege now one thing. Instead. and make it plain that we shudder at this heresy as equivalent to Judaism.86 Blushing perhaps at appearing to hate without a cause. GNO 3. supporting the charge against us as follows.
. that there are not three gods. and after a little while another. 2c. yet when the lamb easily refutes all the slanderous charges brought against him. Gregory treated this issue at greater length in later life. But when they hear this. in To Ablabius. for we do so assert. and from that again they seize on a third. 2b.1. when defeated by justice. we assert that there is one goodness and one power and one deity.

we surely do not have to follow theirs. v. because whenever it mentions deity it uses it in the singular: [GNO 3. from the anomoians who baldly asserted the unlikeness of Father and Son. namely his eternal power and deity. 7] in Him dwells all the fullness of the deity (Col 2. must either support those who say that there are more than one or those who say that there is none. or ‘orthodoxy’. What then is their charge? They bring forward two charges against simultaneously: ﬁrst. If extending the number of deities to multiplicity is proper only to those in the
88 89 90
ÙryÒthtow. 3e. For if custom is valid as a proof of soundness. 92 This sentence is missing in b. 6] in our defence the custom that prevails among us.1.238
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3b. they cannot well object who themselves decree89 the diﬀerence of substances90 in the divine nature.
. dogmat¤zontew. This therefore is the only charge: that we proclaim in the singular the names applied to the divine nature. elsewhere.. 4b. With regard to the division of the hypostases.91 For anyone who condemns those who say that the deity is one. and second. who. have been perceived from the foundation of the world. though stressing likeness of substance. as said above. tØn •terÒthta (‘otherness’) t«n oÈsi«n. What then is our reply to this? We do not consider it right to make the custom that prevails among them the law and rule of sound doctrine. up to an including the homoiousians.e. Let the God-inspired Scripture therefore decide between us.1. but. being inferred from the things that are made (Rom 1. For it is improbable that they who say there are three substances do not also assert emphatically that there are three hypostases. stopped short of confessing the same divine substance in each of the Persons. i. his invisible qualities. that we do not number in the plural any of the God-beﬁtting names. and the verdict of the truth will surely go to those whose teachings are found to be in harmony with the divine words. Gregory here refers to all theologising
of an arianizing stamp. those who theologise in this way and teach accordingly. 4a.92 But the teachings of Scripture do not allow us to say that there are more than one.9). but is corrected in OM. 3c. that we divide the hypostases. proclaim the goodness as one and the power and the deity and all such attributes in the singular. But we have a prompt and clear argument in reply to this. 91 A negation of the statement occurs in OMK. of which the pneumatomachoi were a late variant.88 surely we too may put forward [GNO 3. and if they reject this. and.20). For it is not possible to conceive of a third alternative.

For all the God-beﬁtting names and concepts have the same honour with each other. Jn 5. but that the power of the deity. for it is not joined in one aspect and sundered in others. the wise. and ‘the wise’ or ‘the mighty’ or ‘the righteous’ to another. whatever names you use. for they are in no way distinguishable with regard to the subject that they signify. in delivering the saving faith to the disciples in the word. Mt 28. as best we can. For we do not know of any distinction of superiority and inferiority in the names conceived of for the divine nature. excludes the nature of the Spirit from the divine glory. We aﬃrm that what has once been conjoined maintains that conjunction in all respects. against this conception also. Consequently we must brieﬂy make a defence. the thing signiﬁed by them all is one. Indeed in every case he shares inseparability with them in all the [GNO 3. the holy and eternal. the governing. in the dominical formula of Baptism.
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sickness of polytheistic error. 5a. and in many other instances. Mt 28. what is the doctrine that slanders us for confessing that the deity is one? 4c. and if you speak of God. Therefore we consider it right to hold that what is joined to the Father and the Son in such sublime and God-beﬁtting conceptions is set apart from them in none. issuing from the Father as far as the Son.19. as in the concepts of the good. you denote the same whom you understood by the other names. What then is our doctrine? The Lord. that it might be thought pious to allow to the Spirit communion in the inferior attributes while judging him unworthy of the more elevated.19).
93
I. 8] names reserved for the higher powers. but beyond that. No. the upright.63). 5b. But in that lifegiving power by which our nature is transferred from the perishable life to immortality the power of the Spirit is included with the Father and the Son (cf. whereas to deny the deity altogether would be the part of atheists. The title ‘the good’ does not lead the mind to one subject. do not agree that the Spirit who is numbered together with the Father and the Son93 is to be included in the conception of deity.1. the mighty. But they reveal more clearly the object of their argument when they accept that the Father is God and agree that the Son is likewise to be honoured with the name of deity. joins the Holy Spirit to the Father and the Son (cf.21 6.e.

GOTR 35 (1990). 5f. because they lead our mind to the same subject under this aspect or that. to Bishop Theodoxios’. ed.11 Sept). 10] is said in Scripture to receive counsel from God (cf. we ﬁnd it used equivocally95 even of things that oppose it. McCambley. If therefore they do not deny that the Holy Spirit has
Gregory probes this episode at greater length. Many such examples can be selected from the divine Scriptures to prove that this name has no primacy over the other God-beﬁtting titles. 5d.240
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5c.: C.13). and when the sorceress in her necromancies conjures up for Saul the spirits he asked for. surely he is not less worthy in this. 95 ım≈num«w. 23. that have not made the heavens and the earth perish. as has been said. 9] in the others. For if he is worthy in the other attributes. For Let the gods. and so is excluded from communion with the Father and the Son in the name of deity.20.1. she says that she saw gods (1 Sam 28. none will be found to imply less than the title of ‘God’. since. but excluding him from the godhead alone? It is entirely necessary either to allow him communion in this also or not to concede it [GNO 3. in On the Sorceress.1. and be cast down beneath the earth ( Jer 10.5).
94
.: GNO 3. tr. For when the names are contemplated and compared according to the aspect contemplated in each. Evidence of this is that many inferior things also are called by this very name. But if. the divine Scripture does not shrink from using this name ambiguously even of realities that contradict it.94 And again Balaam who was an augur and a seer and had in hand the divinations (as Scripture says) and acquired for himself the instruction of demons through his augur’s magic.2. according to their argument he is of a lesser degree. and. If indeed all the names ascribed to the divine nature are equally valid with each other for denoting the subject. Moreover. citing also Ps 95. 5g. it says. 5e. as when it names idols by the title of ‘god’. whereas we are taught in Scripture that the names of ‘the holy’ and ‘the incorruptible’ and ‘the righteous’ and ‘the good’. are nowhere bestowed indiscriminately where they are not due. 101–108. ‘Gregory of Nyssa: Letter concerning the Sorceress. what is the reason for allowing to the Spirit communion with the Father and the Son in the other names. the gods of the heathens are demons (Ps 95.5 and the Balaam story. he is also unworthy to share any other of the God-beﬁtting names. Num 22. [GNO 3.5). 129–137 at 134–137.

for what reason do they make him out to be excluded from communion in this one alone. diﬀering or varying in no respect whatever. Gregory is enunciating a classic principle of Cappadocian theological method. tentatively. in which it was shown that. the Son and the Holy Spirit alike sanctify. the Son and the Holy Spirit is one. we must deduce the oneness of their nature from the identity of their operation. sanctify them in your name
96
stoxãstik«w (attentively. intently. or ice warm—but due to the diﬀerence of their natures the operations deriving from them are also distinct one from the other. 6b. The Father. 98 And give light. For it cannot be that things which deviate in their very nature are assimilated to each other in the form of their operation—ﬁre does not chill. even demons and idols share? 6a. we should surely have no need of arguments or other evidences in order to comprehend the object of our enquiry. added in v. and that since the Spirit has no communion with the Father and the Son in nature. Father.
. And let no-one who has heard the Saviour in the Gospel saying to the Father concerning his disciples. and all such operations. For if it were possible to contemplate the divine nature in itself and to discover manifestly what is proper to it and what is alien.
97 t«n §nergei«n. it is wholly necessary that we are guided in our investigation of the divine nature by its operations. we shall deduce from the diﬀerentiation of operations that the operative natures also are diﬀerent. 7a. workings.98 and console. 6c. But if we perceive that the operation of the Father. 11] about those matters which elude our knowledge. and give life. through an equivocally usage. ‘energies’.supplementary collection
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communion with the Father and the Son in those names which especially are predicated piously only of the divine nature.97 6d. activities. Therefore if we see that the operations accomplished by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit diﬀer one from each other. neither does he partake of the communion implied by this name. But because this is too sublime for the grasp of enquirers and we must infer carefully96 from certain evidences [GNO 3. 6e. But they say that this title is indicative of nature. lit. Let them show then by what means they discover this variation of nature.1. sensitively) énalog¤zomeya (rea-
son from).

99
. But the dispensation of things above us concerning creatures both intellectual and perceptive99—if we may at all speculate from the things we know to the things that lie above us—is not established without the operation and power of the Holy Spirit. the change to immortality. 12] assign the power of sanctifying in a special sense to the operation of the Spirit.11. being unable to support the absurdity with any reasoning. what person who knows how to see the consequence would not agree that every intellectual nature is governed by the ordering of the Holy Spirit? 7g. each partaking of his help according to its own dignity and need. life. ‘sentient’. guidance. For even if the ordering and governance of what is above our nature is obscure to our sense. 7c. But anyone who concludes that the things above us are also ordered by the power of the Spirit together with the Father and the Son strengthens his case with the support of clear evidence from his own life. 7d. than that it is banished from the dispensation of what lies above us. But if the gift of the Holy Spirit is primarily a grace of the soul.30–31 is missing in b.1. v. nevertheless one may more reasonably conclude from what we know that the power of the Spirit is also operative in those beings. and whatever other blessings there are that come down to us. so too the angelic life has no need of his grace. 7e. 13] in the case of bodies and the soul were insusceptible of the grace that comes from him. [GNO 3. 7f. For since it is said their angels always behold the face of my
§n tª nohtª kt¤sei ka‹ §n t∞. the passage to freedom. and the Basilian recension except for slightly diﬀerent beginning and ending points in each. and if the constitution of the soul is in some way associated by its intellectuality and invisibility with the angelic and bodiless life.100 For inasmuch as human nature is compounded of body and soul and the angelic nature has for its portion the bodiless life. which would usually mean ‘sensate’. then if the Holy Spirit were operative only [GNO 3. For anyone who asserts the latter proposes a bare and groundless blasphemy. 100 33. ‘with the senses’ etc. 17).242
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( Jn 17. one might perhaps deduce from this that if the intellectual and bodiless nature which is in us is above the power of the Spirit. So too all the other operations are accomplished in the worthy by the Father. aﬁsyhtª the higher echelon of created beings: the pure spirits of the angelic order. 7b. the Son and the Holy Spirit equally: every grace and power. It is unusual to use aﬁsyhtª in this connection. consolation.1.

6).14. 106 Gregory later revisited and developed his arguments on this question in On Common Notions.18. Gregory discusses Heb 1. Consequently. 102 toÊtƒ. 105 ≤ t∞w oÈs¤aw koinÒthw t∞w oÈs¤aw. Thus the identity of operation in Father and Son and Holy Spirit proves clearly the indistinguishability104 of their substance.3 at length in 34.28 Gregory uses §ke¤nƒ to refer to the latter of two preceding terms. the nature of those things also is
101 ı de xaraktØr (lit.1).10) and it is not possible to behold the hypostasis of the Father otherwise than by ﬁxing the gaze upon it through his impress. 4. and both good and just. 104 tÚ .3)101 of the Father is the Only-begotten ( Jn 1. impress) t∞w toË pãtrow ÍpÒstãsevw. But the divine nature remains as it is under all the names conceived for it. so also is it through the Spirit. and again to him102 noone can draw near whose mind has not been illumined by the Holy Spirit (cf.supplementary collection
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Father who is in heaven (Mt 18. . 8b. 14] that the title of deity is indicative of nature.1.6–8. invariability.
. éparãllakton. and the impress of the hypostasis (Heb 1.106 For Moses was appointed as a god to the Egyptians when he who gave him the oracles said to him I have given you as a god to Pharaoh (Ex 7. As access to the Father is through the Son. stamp. cit.18). Courtonne: l’absolue ressemblance. 2 Cor 3. the commonality of substance105 indicates that this title also will be properly applied to the Holy Spirit. i.e. and other such titles. whether of supervision or of operation. Yet I do not know how they with all their ingenuity maintain [GNO 3. For in learning that he is benefactor and judge. The title therefore is indicative of a certain power. at 33. and To Ablabius. this is Gregory’s nearest approach to predicating the ımooÊsiow of the Holy Spirit. . op. and where the deﬁnition of things diﬀers. what else is shown by this but that the Holy Spirit is not separate from the one operation worked by the Father?103 7h. as if they had not heard from the Scripture that nature does not result from appointment. 103 The third class of mss. even if the name of deity does signify nature. and the Syriac version add ‘and of the son’. we are taught the diversity of his operations—yet through our comprehension of the operations we are not in any way better able to come to a knowledge of the nature of the operator. that there are not three gods. inexpressible. For anyone who gives a deﬁnition of each of these names and of the nature itself to which the names refer does not give the same deﬁnition of both. to the Father. 8a. 107 ésÆmantow. a synonym for ‘incomprehensible’. character.107 this is our doctrine.

Jn 18. . I do not know by what reasoning he holds the name to this signiﬁcance.1. Lk 4. we will accommodate such a supposition and say to those who are of this opinion that even if the name does signify dignity. If deity is a name of operation. And even if. 16] he who was deemed wor-
108 v has a diﬀerent text: ‘but of the diﬀerence in respect of nature we ﬁnd no clear proof. because the operation of Father and Son and Holy Spirit is one. For in ancient times.108 [GNO 3. lit. and [GNO 3. chrism. 9a. 15] 8d.18). is himself proclaimed king by Holy Scripture (cf. which is an argument for the equal dignity of the Spirit with the Son. according to the opinion of the many. . 109 ‘due .38. For consider: the name of kingship denotes all dignity. so we aﬃrm the deity is one. is missing in the Basilian transmission.15). but the commonality consisting of nature is manifestly proved through the identity of operations. But alas. 111 xr›sma. commonality of nature’. We do not discover in the communion of the names any diﬀerence in the operations. 9b.244
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distinct. one hears many saying this kind of thing. 110 All that follows.109 we not unreasonably deﬁne the Holy Trinity to be of one deity. that the zeal of opponents may ﬁnd no ground for attacking the truth. 8c. in this case too the title will be properly applied to the Holy Spirit. intimating the dignity of the Spirit by a metaphor from the terms commonly used here below. the name of deity is indicative of nature. Therefore. Acts 10.36). as we have said.
. Once this took place there was a change thereafter from a private humble estate to the pre-eminence of rule. and our God. who possesses all that the Father has ( Jn 16. but another is the signiﬁcance of those names surrounding it which take their names from some operation or dignity. Therefore the substance is one thing for which no intelligible deﬁnition has yet been discovered. and the Basilian recension. But the Son. then because we cannot discover any variation in their nature because of the identity of operations. is King from everlasting (Ps 73. 9c. Now the divine Scripture says that the Holy Spirit is the anointing111 of the Only-Begotten (cf.12). the symbol of this dignity for those who were being advanced to kingship was the anointing bestowed on them. the identity of operations indicating instead. it says. 110Yet if someone wishes to deﬁne this title as indicative of dignity. operations’ missing in v.1.

Wherefore he is properly called Christ. Analecta Patristica.
. For this reason. being called. If they say. by a metaphor of the names in use among us indicates the equality of power. Texte und Abhandlungen zur grieschishen Patristik.e. instead of an ordinary man. I. and on the Lord’s prayer. Ps 2. that is anointing. and the Holy Spirit is his anointing. therefore. to Ablabius.supplementary collection
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thy of this grace received after his anointing another name. This comprises a string of six deﬁnitions of the term §n°rgeia. The fourth deﬁnition was subsequently sourced by Franz Diekamp who came upon it in a longer Greek passage which he found in an anthology of Christological texts preserved in codex Vaticanus 1142 (13th cent. Some excerpts he could not identify. For just as in Israel112 it was not permitted to enter upon the kingship without the bestowal of anointing beforehand. If therefore the Only-begotten God ( Jn 1. in order that the dignity of the Holy Spirit might be more clearly manifest to human beings. so the Word. and the anointing is the symbol of his kingship.) and codex Casanatensis 1357 (16th cent. which in their terse form as culled by Maximus.6.). Letter 34 To Xenodorus the grammaticus
In the notes prefacing the preceding letter.113 since this name furnishes proof of his inseparable and unshakable conjunction with the Holy Spirit. Orientalia Christiana
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OMK: ényrvpo›w (among men) instead of ‘in Israel’. 9e. ‘Anointed’. it follows that he who shares in the dignity will certainly also share in the name which represents it. reference was made to the patristic testimonies of Christ’s two operations collected by St Maximus the Confessor.114 speciﬁcally to a sub-collection called From Gregory of Nyssa. the Lord’s Anointed (cf.). and the title of Anointed indicates his kingly authority. 9d.18) is the Christ. 1 Sam 16.2 etc. that the name of deity refers to dignity. and the Holy Spirit is shown to share in this quality. from which we are taught that the Holy Spirit shares in the glory and the kingship of the Only-begotten Son of God. do not as such prove Gregory’s style. He published his ﬁndings in ‘Gregor von Nyssa’. then the Holy Spirit also shares in his dignity. he was named by the Scripture as the symbol of kingship. Mercati identiﬁed several of Gregory’s works from which these deﬁnitions were culled: letter 33 to Eustathus the physician. 9f. showing that not even the kingship of the Son is assumed without the dignity of the Holy Spirit.

Though so little of this letter survives. Opuscula theologica et polemica. It is true that Anastasius of Sinai also reported the passage. Institutum Orientalium Studium 1938) pp. 116 By the holy Gregory bishop of Nyssa. mentioned above and the text from Maximus the Confessor.2 below. swimming of that which swims. . walking of that which walks. versiﬁcation is added. The title of the letter is extracted from the caption reported above.
115
114
. For we say that energeia is the natural power and movement of each substance without which a nature neither exists nor is recognized. sensation of sensate beings—by which the same lay hold of things outside them and are subject to things outside them—ﬂight of that which ﬂies. See also letter 24.115 but in so paraphrased a form Diekamp could not use it for establishing the text. One of the ways Gregory typically began a letter was to use a brief pungent aphorism. It therefore constitutes the only credible notice of an otherwise lost letter from Gregory to an otherwise unknown grammaticus or lower school teacher. the identifying characteristic of each nature we call its
Maximus Confessor. .G.14. . 2. In the anthology discovered by Diekamp the authorship and the provenance of the fragments are identiﬁed: ‘By the holy Gregory bishop of Nyssa. of which the beginning (is): There is nothing is more saving for Christians than true theology’. P. one do not know the context in which Gregory introduced his deﬁnition of energeia. .’ 117 oÈden Xristiano›w yeolog¤aw élhyoËw svthrivdes Äteron. sprouting of that which sprouts. from the discourse to the grammaticus Xenodorus. The sentence corresponds to 34. of which the beginning is: There is nothing more salviﬁc for Christians than true theology. Hodegos chapter 2. To speak comprehensively. The term energeia is a cornerstone of his discussion of the Trinity in letter 33. It seemed appropriate here to transliterate §n°rgeia as energeia rather than translate it as operation/activity/active force. Since we have only these fragments. 3. 13–15.65BC. since the actual word is so much the focus of attention. it glories in its incipit which is surely one of Gregory’s most brilliant ‘one-liners’.
To Xenodorus the grammaticus116 1. 89.6e–7a. For intelligence is of intellectual beings. P. The translation here is made from Diekamp’s edition of the fragments based on the two mss. Anastasius Sinaita. There is nothing more saving for Christians than true theology117 . 91. Diekamp saw no reason in the style of the accompanying text for doubting the reliability of the ascription. but was almost certainly in connection with the theology of the Trinity.G. .280D–291B. crawling of that which crawls.246
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Analecta 117 (Roma: Pont. from a discourse to the grammaticus Xenodorus [or Zenodoros].

Med. corroborated and extended Cavallin’s ﬁndings. of which only that which does not exist was deprived.supplementary collection
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natural energeia.256–259. Fedwick.: Laur. comprising the mss: Mon. Fedwick in OCP article shortly cited. Group A was shown to have more aﬃnity with the Basilian transmission. 4. Rudberg. 41–46. 586.: NPNF 2nd ser. 71 ﬀ. For that which shares in any substance will also share naturally and completely in the power that manifests it. especially in the form of the drastically recast introduction. divided into two text families: Group A. For Fedwick’s deﬁnitive summary of the textual transmission see ‘**GrNys 2/38’. Anders Cavallin demonstrated in his 1944 thesis119 that Gregory was not the recipient of this letter but its author. Paul J. but of particular ways of wording and expression which indicate Gregory’s authorship. 120 ‘A commentary of Gregory of Nyssa or the 38th Letter of Basil of Caesarea’. For the true Word presides over the natural limits of substances… Letter 35 TO PETER
HIS OWN BROTHER ON THE DIVINE OUSIA AND HYPOSTASIS 118
This letter is found in some 36 mss. 446. Basilius (Lund: Gleerupska universitetsbokhandeln. 16 (10th/11th cent). 4864. ed. which were based on a study not of the theological contents of the letter. 370 should be
118 Mss. and in Group B: (Gregory) To his own brother Peter. 503. Def. and J. idem) as the archetype of Group B. and so carry a greater warrant of authenticity. In particular Fedwick found that the omissions in E coincide with one Basilian ms. LC. pp. Orientalia Christiana Periodica 44 (1978).120 Although no critical edition of this letter has appeared in GNO to date. 2. 29–30. 585. BBV 1. 370. collated Courtonne’s edition of the Basilian text with Vat. He concludes that ‘the text of Mon. IV.620–623. and Mon. Dörries. Par. 8. 41–46. It is letter 38 in the Benedictine numeration of Basil’s letters. Par. H. 9. S. 370 (= ‘O’. comprising the mss: Vat. Urb. tr. The readings of these two groups are shorter and more diﬃcult.137–141. Old Royal XVI. 31–51. cf. Mon 107. on the divine ousia and hypostasis. D I. is: (Gregory) To his own brother Peter. 119 Studien zu den Briefen des Hl. Matr.: VPBM. It is also found in some 10 mss of St Gregory of Nyssa’s works. The title in the group A mss. these notes are mostly taken from his article. and Group B. He also noted examples in Group B of liberal editorializing on the part of the scribe. 446 (= ‘E’ in the introduction to letter 33) prototype of Group A. of St Basil’s works. in the above article. on the diﬀerence between ousia and hypostasis. 1944).: Courtonne II.
. where it bears the title: (Basil) To his brother Gregory on the diﬀerence between ousia and hypostasis. Quasten all accepted Cavallin’s arguments. in which Basil and Gregory are in complete accord. Fedwick reviewed.

this sentence is enough to cast doubt on Gregory as the recipient.248
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considered a gloss from the use of which . But also like that letter it is not unreasonable that having been so long published among Basil’s letters. p. 107. 378–380. 122 M. the two words sometimes being thought of as synonymous. and to secure and conﬁrm their allegiance. Eustathius of Sebasteia had for many years been a friend of Emmelia’s family. Anastos. Meanwhile. To the Bishops of Africa 4. Peter. In working on this translation.
. the present letter may be readily classed as a small dogmatic treatise. is followed here. while Peter was still the monastic superior at Annisa. It is tempting to date this letter to the period after Gregory’s restoration to his see. Regrettably. in order to arm himself in dealing with the legacy of disputatiousness left behind by Eusthathius. Other variants in E proved too insigniﬁcant to aﬀect the translation. Indeed the whole history of the Arian conﬂict to no small extent reﬂects the vicissitudes of
121 In itself. As with letter 33. for there is no particular sign in this letter that Gregory is writing to a bishop. Basil may have had certain worries over his brother. Indeed Gregory of Nyssa surpassed his brother in powers of theological speculation.65. by providing this short treatise as a doctrinal vademecum. being as frequent a visitor to Annisa as his travels along the Via Pontica allowed.1c)?121 Can such a caution apply to Peter? Letters 5 and 33 furnish some background.g. Gregory sent this letter to his brother..122 The distinctions between these terms had by no means been clear at an earlier period. with the exception of the title. according to the inscription. the original opening has probably dropped out. it should now be given a place here among Gregory’s letters. 135. but a fear that he was insuﬃciently trained in discourse or lacked precision in theological analysis. This letter has been called ‘the locus classicus for the Cappadocian analysis of the terms oÈs¤a and ÍpÒstasiw’. Whether the letter is dated earlier or later. V. e. . a critical analysis’. and it is not diﬃcult to discern that part of his agenda was to explain to his own siblings the theological and political issues of this new situation with respect to Eustathius. But what are we to make of: ‘For this reason. 4. Of special interest is the fact that. St Athanasius’ usage in Against the Arians 3. Alternatively Gregory may have furnished his brother with this letter when he became bishop in Sebasteia. Gregory at any rate means to fortify his brother doctrinally and theologically. . that even you may not succumb to similar notions’ (35. I found that almost none of the omissions in E were corroborated in O. ‘Basil’s Katå EÈnom¤ou. Gregory of Nyssa became the special target of Eustathius’ politicking. was not one of them. Consequently Courtonne’s edition.33. in Nyssa. and a great spiritual inﬂuence on her children and on monastic communities throughout Pontus. The drawn-out rupture with Eustathius over his doctrinal dissembling was possibly the most painful event of Basil’s troubled episcopate. one should prescind in the literary and doctrinal study’ of this letter. Basil himself visited Annisa for the last time in 375/376. n.

an individual subject or identity. in the same register as ‘nature’. oÈs¤a refers to ‘essence’ or ‘substance’. It to refer to the terms
of Heb 1. Consequently. the Neo-nicenes made these clariﬁed deﬁnitions its special platform. The present letter is the culmination of the doctrinal development that followed the council of 362 and triumphed in the council of 381.g. when this confusion was admitted. the formula is one ousia of the divine nature. whose premise is God’s one substance. That of course could only be a stopgap measure.6–8. which is common. in which Gregory of Nyssa was prominent. In this translation oÈs¤a is rendered ‘substance’. the Son and Holy Spirit. consolidated by Basil.supplementary collection
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semantics concerning these two terms. It was proposed eirenically that all talk of either one or three hypostases should be avoided.
To Peter his own brother on the divine ousia and hypostasis123 1a. he has to resort to other means. ÍpÒstasiw refers to ‘subsistence’. 1b. Thereafter. Basil articulated the distinction of the terms in 373 in letter 225.
. and ‘Marcellans’. Meletius and Eusebius of Samosata in the late 360s and 370s. Gregory himself scarcely adverts to the historical problems of terminology (35. from the principle of the hypostases. Consequently some125 who accept such notions uncritically are happy to speak of
123 This is more ‘diﬃcult’ title in the mss. of the holy Trinity. worked out in relation to Eustathius of Sebasteia. some old Nicenes. In Gregory’s exposition here. 124 t«n mustik«n dogmãtvn. 125 E. Compare Gregory’s treatment of hypostasis in letter 5. and in 375 in letter 214 to Count Terentius. rooted in the liturgy of Baptism.3 discussed at length in 33. worked out in relation to the strife between old Nicenes and Neo-nicenes in Antioch. Easterners working with a Greek terminology formed by Origen) were really confessing the same faith. and three hypostases under the names of the Father. Henceforth in speaking of the Holy Trinity.3. sub-versiﬁcation is supplied using letters of the alphabet. recognized that amid ongoing misunderstandings and controversies these terms required clariﬁcation. not without value. in 35. The Neo-nicene front.e.6–8. to explain the potential ambiguity of Heb 1. The turning point came at the synod at Alexandria presided over by Athanasius in 362. The eight divisions of the letter appearing in the earlier editions are maintained here. Since many fail to distinguish in the mystic dogmas124 the substance. and ÍpÒstasiw is transliterated as ‘hypostasis’.1a–b). and it was recognized that parties who bristled at each other over terms (Old Nicenes v. they fall into ambivalent notions and think that it makes no diﬀerence at all whether they say ‘substance’ or ‘hypostasis’. of Group A: toË aÈtoË prÚw P°tron tÚn ‡dion édelfÚn per‹ t∞w ye¤aw oÈs¤aw ka‹ Ípostãsevw. i. assimilated in the West and eventually in the East to the term ‘person’. and of ousia and hypostasis in letter 24.

in that what is contemplated in the thing signiﬁed is not the commonality of nature but a circumscription of a some reality. John or James. i. who risk falling into tritheism if they do not clarify their terms. to put it brieﬂy. Paul. The second person singular is qualiﬁed with emphasis. lit. Now the meaning of the expressions. or ‘subdivision’. thus Gregory aﬃrms that the Spirit is homoousios with
126
. not limiting it to any particular man known by such a term. 2c. 1c. 2b. For such an expression no longer has reference to what is common in the nature.128 expressions used for things which are plural and numerically diverse have a more general sense. no-one will give one deﬁnition of substance131 for Paul. . . as for example ‘man’. 129 t∞w Ípodiastol∞w. but Peter or John. 127 …w ìn mØ ka‹ su tå ˜moia pãyoiw. Silvanus and Timothy. which. and Neo-nicenes. is as follows: 2a.e. expresses them by means of their names. whatever the terms used to indicate the substance of Paul they will also apply these to the others. as for example. and they are consubstantial with one another132 who are designated by the
Including those whose starting point is two (or three) persons. as far as its individuality goes. But other nouns have a more individual signiﬁcation. has no communion with what is of the same kind. In the whole class of nouns. and yet another for Timothy.250
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‘one hypostasis’ in the same breath as ‘one substance’. of the same kind’ missing in M.127 I have put together a short treatise for you as a memorandum on this topic. and one seeks a deﬁnition of the substance of these human beings. while others who accept three hypostases126 think that they are bound by this confession to assert an equal number of substances. 130 ‘in that the commonality . When several are taken together. ‘names’.130 Paul or Timothy. 131 ‘of substance’ missing in M. 132 éllÆlouw ımooÊsioi. Arianizers of all stamps. so that you too may not succumb to similar notions. No. For this reason. The commonality of what is signiﬁed extends alike to all ranked under the same name and requires some further distinction129 if we are to understand not ‘man’ in general. another for Silvanus. 1d. For ‘man’ has no more reference to Peter than it has to Andrew. For anyone who employs this noun indicates the common nature. 128 ÙnÒmata. as for example. but by separating certain circumscribed conceptions from the general idea.

which ﬁnds no instantiation134 because of the commonality of what is signiﬁed. For when someone says ‘a human being’. Thus by means of the name. It is the custom of Scripture to make distinctions of this kind in many other passages as it does in the history of Job. But when someone who has ascertained what is common turns his attention to the individual properties by which the one is distinguished from the other. 3d. Though the nature is indicated. 3a. This goes somewhat beyond Basil’s oikonomia in the terms to be used of the Holy Spirit and hence conﬁrms Gregory’s authorship. the deﬁnition by which each is known will no longer tally in all particulars with the deﬁnition of another. But by means of particular identifying notes. and the external circumstances. for it has no bearing on the scope of his work.135 As to the description of the substance. 135 The verbal sequence in Greek is that of a noun followed by enclitic: ÖAnyrvpÒw tiw ∑n. rootedness.1). the description of him whose story is to be told is made in all respects perfectly clear. Now if he had been giving an account of the substance there would not have been any mention at all of these matters in his exposition of the nature. he is silent. it strikes upon the ear as a somewhat diﬀuse concept due to the indeﬁniteness of its meaning. but that conception which through the manifest individualities gives stability and circumscription in a certain object to the common and uncircumscribed. 134 stãsiw. Then he immediately individualizes by adding ‘a certain’ ( Job 1. ﬁrm basis. When he begins to narrate the events of his life. 133 Hypo-stasis. by mentioning the place and identiﬁable habits and such external marks that would distinguish him and mark him oﬀ from the common signiﬁcation. 3b. is that which ‘stands under’. This then is what we aﬃrm: what is spoken of individually is indicated by the expression ‘hypostasis’.supplementary collection
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same deﬁnition of substance. even though it may be found to have certain points in common. the particular qualities of soul. he characterizes the ‘certain man’. the place. This therefore is the hypostasis:133 not the indeﬁnite notion of the substance. Job ﬁrst mentions what is common and says ‘a man’. 3c.
. But if someone says ‘Paul’. that thing which subsists and is indicated by the noun individually is not made clear. he shows the nature as subsisting in that which is indicated by the noun. stability. For the same account would have been given in the
the Father and the Son.

). We say that every good which comes upon us by God’s power is an operation of the grace which works all things in all (1 Cor 12. 3f. again we are led on by God-inspired guidance and taught that through this power all things are brought from non-being into being—yet not even by this power without a principal. and you will not go wrong. When we have been elevated to this conception. shall not adduce what is contemplated in common. Transpose136 then to the divine dogmas the same principle of diﬀerentiation which you acknowledge with regard to substance and hypostasis in our aﬀairs. And since it is necessary that the distinction in the Trinity be kept unconfused by means of the notes of diﬀerentiation.6).252
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case of Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Minaean and each of the men mentioned there (cf. 3g. whether in regard to the Father or the Son or the Holy Spirit. for we are taught by Holy Scripture that through him all things came to be ( Jn 1. for there is a certain power subsist-
136
The second person singular is used. in our assessment of that which diﬀerentiates. and likewise of the Holy Spirit.18). as for example the uncreated that I mentioned or what is beyond all comprehension or any such quality.11 Sept. If we ask whether the supply of the good which comes to the worthy in this way takes its origin from the Holy Spirit alone.3) and subsist in him (Col 1. again we are guided by Scripture to believe that the author and cause of the supply of the good things which are worked in us through the Holy Spirit is the Only-begotten God ( Jn 1. For one is not more incomprehensible and uncreated and another less so.17). as the apostle says: But all these are the work of the one and the self same Spirit who distributes to each as he wills (1 Cor 12. We shall seek only the means by which the conception of each shall be separated lucidly and in an unconfusing manner from that which is contemplated in common.11). 3e. Job 2. For the principle of the uncreated and of the incomprehensible is one and the same. 4c. Whatever your thought suggests to you as the Father’s mode of being—for it is idle for the soul to insist on any discrete conception because of the conviction that it is above all conception—you will think also of the Son. 4b. Now a good way to trace out this argument seems to me as follows. we. 4a.
.

Since the Holy Spirit. . the short creed of Gregory Thaumaturgus (313–370).142 those marks by which the individuality of the Persons143 is set forth as they are delivered in the faith.144 each
137 138 139
égennÆtvw ka‹ énãrxvw Ífest«sa. For the Son.
For similar argument concerning the Spirit see letter 33. is from the Father. from §jap . in the dominical baptismal formula and the liturgical tradition. 144 I. For it is not possible for anyone to conceive of the Son if he has not been illumined beforehand by the Spirit (cf. Cf.7g. 2 Cor 3. d. from whom the whole supply of good things ﬂows forth upon creation. 4f.
. 141 mÒnow monogen«w §k toË égennÆtou f≈tow. 4g.141 has no communion with the Father or the Holy Spirit in the distinguishing marks of individuality. cf. For other formulas concerning the relation of the Spirit to Father and Son see letter 24. and who alone shines forth as the only begotten from the unbegotten light. is attached to the Son with whom he is comprehended inseparably. For this understanding there was precedent in his own family’s tradition. ‘unconﬂatable’) .6) has as a special mark of his own hypostasis that he is Father and that he alone has his subsistence from no cause.supplementary collection
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ing without generation and without origin137 which is the cause of the cause of all that exists. through whom are all things. having his subsistence from God and made manifest through the Son’.26) through himself and with himself. the Spirit does not issue from the Father without an inherent relation to the Son.e. The Son who makes known the Spirit who issues from the Father ( Jn 15. . The pneumatology in 34. recorded by Gregory of Nyssa in his Life of the saint: ‘one Holy Spirit.8c. he therefore has this distinguishing sign of its individual hypostasis. from whom indeed he issues. 4. 13 (in Greek).140 and that he has his subsistence from the Father. 142 ésumbatã (disparate.2. A brilliant use of paronomasia.15. The term is also used in letter 33. and with whom the Holy Spirit is always conceived of inseparably. §jhmm°non. and has his being dependent139 on the Father as cause. But the God who is over all (Eph 4.138 4d. 4e. 143 pros≈pvn. that he is known after the Son and with him. He alone is known by the signs just stated. 34. Ätv 140 metå tÚn Uﬂon ka‹ sÁn aÈt“. irreconcilable.4d is as close to the sound sense of the western ﬁlioque as can be found in the Greek fathers while maintaining the Father’s monarché. and again it is by this sign that he is recognized individually. ékoin≈nhta. 7.18. For this reason we say that the distinguishing marks contemplated in the Trinity are incompatible and incommunicable with the commonality of substance. In all Gregory’s formulations.6).

since the Son draws with him on one side his own Father and on the other his own Spirit. he forms an image in himself of the faith that holds the three together. This is because nothing intrudes itself between them and no other reality subsists beyond the divine nature able to divide that nature from itself by the interposition of some alien element. But when it comes to being inﬁnite. For neither can he who exists eternally
145 146
t«n tri«n katå taÈtÚn sugkekram°nhn §n •aut“ tØn p¤stin énetup Ävsato. the communion contemplated in them is in a way continuous and inseparable. uncreated. also draws through him the Son and the Father. since between Father. it is through the signs stated above that the distinction of the hypostases is discovered.9) and from God (1 Cor 2. incomprehensible. he will hold to him on both sides.
. 4l. and one who has received him does not portion oﬀ the Spirit from the Son. conjointly as far as nature is concerned. in sequence as far as order is concerned. But one who has given thought to the Father and given thought to him as he is in himself. Son and Holy Spirit there is no interstice into which the mind might step as into a void.
Gregory seems to have in mind Rom 8. Rather. but he also seems to have consciously or unconsciously brought in the preposition from from 1 Cor 2. by breaching the continuity through the insertion of a void.145 4k. uncircumscribed by any place and all such qualities. 4j. then just as anyone who catches hold of one end of a chain pulls also on the other end. And since the Spirit is of Christ (Rom 8. By whatever considerations one conceives of the majesty of any one of the Holy Trinity in whom we believe.254
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of them being apprehended separately by his own distinguishing marks. the Son and the Holy Spirit and behold their glory. there is no variation in the life-giving nature—of Father. Accordingly. which could cause the harmony of the divine substance with itself to ﬁssure. so one who draws the Spirit (Ps 118.12. 4h. Anyone who mentions only the Spirit also embraces in this confession the one of whom he is the Spirit. Son. There is no void of some interstice.12)146 as Paul says.9 which presents synoptically the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. has also embraced the Son in his understanding. lacking subsistence. and Holy Spirit I mean. through these same considerations one will approach without variation the Father. Instead. And if anyone truly receives the Son.131) as the prophet says. 4i.

there occurs a kind of bending and return of the light upon itself. after obliquely passing through the dense and opaque portion of the cloudformation.11) ever be disjoined from his own Spirit. which in the custom of our common speech is called Iris. in eﬀect receives with him both the Son and the Spirit as well. such that the Son should be thought of apart from the Father or the Spirit be disjoined from the Son. is formed like this. as though in riddles (cf. When the sunbeam. has directly cast its own circle on some cloud. The rainbow. nor he who works all things by the Spirit (cf. I mean.supplementary collection
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in the Father (cf. 5c. of a new and strange kind of conjoined separation and separated conjunction. one can ﬁnd something similar even in things perceptible to the senses. Those expert in such matters say it is formed when a certain moisture is mingled with the air. beyond a certain point ineﬀable and inconceivable. nor the commonality of substance ever dissolves the distinguishing notes. Yet both the communion and the distinction apprehended in them are. Why then do we say that an analogy of what is both separate and connatural can be drawn from things evident to the senses? 5b. Even so. Jn 10. 4n. and that we think.38 14. not as the actual truth itself. for in no way is it possible to conceive of a severance or division. From time to time during the Spring you have seen the brightness of the rainbow in the cloud—that rainbow. Do not wonder then that we speak of the same thing as being at once conjoined and separated. they say.10 17. in which neither the distinction of the hypostases ever sunders the continuity of nature. receive what we say as at best an intimation and a shadow of the truth.147 For unless one is attending to the argument in a disputatious and truculent spirit.
. the force of the winds compresses it into rain. 5a. For it is impossible that there should be correspondence in all respects between what is contemplated by means of examples and that for which the use of examples has been compassed. Likewise anyone who receives the Father. for the radiance reﬂects back from what is moist and shiny. and when the dense and the moist in the vapours has become cloudy. 1 Cor 12.21) ever be cut oﬀ from him. 4m. 1 Cor 13. For it is the nature
147
An excellent use of oxymoron (concentrated antithesis) to serve a theological
truth.12).

Instead. 149 The manner of analogy is very much in Gregory’s style: ﬁrst a graphic description of some natural phenomenon. eﬄorescence. no intervening space.
148 ênyesi. refracted as it is through the sunbeam. For because it is composed.11–16 (Krabinger 20–22) to show the power of the intellect/spirit surpassing the mere senses. ênyow = ﬂower. so that the air next to the cloud is necessarily circumscribed by the shimmering brilliance in accord with the shape of the sun’s disk. it steeps itself invisibly in the various bright hues148 of its dye. This brilliance is both consistent with itself and divided. Compare the study of the cycles of the moon and the sun in On the Soul and the Resurrection 2.5g. or between the orange and the deep red. while no diﬀerence of individuality as to nature can be perceived between one and the other. 5f. in some sense. that it possible also to draw an analogy in the same way concerning the divine dogmas. they are simultaneously luminous yet steal away the signs of their junction with each another. the distinguishing individual traits shine on each in the commonality of substance. no mixing or partitioning of the variety of colours within itself can be discerned either between the blue-green and the orange. 5d.149 5g. or between this colour and the yellow. bloom. the substance which displays that many-coloured ray is one. and yet we are unable to apprehend by our senses the separation between one and the other.5h). I beg you. like the bright hues that appear in the Iris. Thus the individual traits of the hypostases. but the bright hue of what appears is multiform. Accordingly. then a transitional sentence querying the example followed by the application to the requires case. Now the shape formed by the sunbeam on the moist and smooth part of the air is round.256
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of ﬂame-like vibrations that if they fall on any smooth surface that they recoil upon themselves. Just as in this example we distinguish clearly the diﬀerences of the colours. They so elude our scrutiny that it is impossible to discover how far the scarlet or the green portion of the light extends and at what point each begins to cease being at full luminosity. For when all the rays are seen in ensemble.
. stealing imperceptibly from our sight the junction of the diﬀerent colours with each other. of many-colours and aspects. 5e. Gregory endeavours to provide a metaphysical probability for even the loftiest of revealed truths (34. reason. The term becomes important at the end of 33. illumine each of those in the Holy Trinity in whom we believe. brightness. Even in our example.

that for the apostle the statement in this passage is directed to another end. 7b. experience appears to be stronger than argument concerning causality. But perhaps someone may think that the account given here of the hypostasis does not tally with the conception in the apostle’s writing where he says of the Lord that He is the brightness of his glory and the impress of his hypostasis (Heb 1. and in the same way it is also believed equally of the Only-begotten. inseparability. since reason has contemplated in the Holy Trinity both that which is common and that which is distinctive. the principle of commonality is to be referred to substance. For the apostolic argument is not concerned with distinguishing the hypostases from one another by their manifest signs. 6a. and speak of the Son as a form of that hypostasis. For if we have given it out that hypostasis is the conﬂuence of the individual qualities of each and if it is confessed that. while hypostasis is the distinguishing mark of each. 6b. not characterized by his own distinguishing marks but by those of the Father? 6c. But what we would say is this. for it teaches us both the distinction in hypostasis and the conjunction in substance. 7a. and it is in view of this that he uses the expressions brightness of glory. and intimacy of relationship of the Son in respect of the Father. For as in the case of things which appear before our eyes.supplementary collection
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5h. so in matters transcending all knowledge. but with appreciating the genuineness. how then does Scripture in this place attribute the name of the hypostasis to the Father alone.3). faith is stronger than comprehension through reasonings. Therefore. and impress of hypostasis. For if the hypostasis is the individualizing sign of each one’s existence and it is confessed that the Father’s individual note is unbegotten being. and the Son is formed to the Father’s individual qualities. Whoever keeps this carefully in mind will ﬁnd that nothing clashes with what we have said. something individual is contemplated by which he alone is recognized. but that the statement is made in a certain individualizing sense. then unbegottenness can no longer be predicated of the Father as special to him alone. For he does not say
. since the existence of the Only-begotten is also characterized by what individualizes the Father. In this way reason teaches us even by means of creation not to feel uneasy at discussions of dogma whenever we are faced with questions hard to understand and we begin to baulk at assenting to the ideas expressed. as in the case of the Father.

nature does not admit of the distinction.258
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‘who being the glory of the Father’—though in truth he is that— but bypasses this as acknowledged. and no-one in giving the deﬁnition for the one would give the equivalent for the other—with the proviso that even if in theory you distinguish the shape from the body. and the one is always understood inseparably with the other—just so the apostle thinks that even if the doctrine of the faith teaches that the diﬀerence of the hypostases is unconfused and distinct. Accordingly. the ﬂame ﬂaring and the light shining simultaneously. For just as the radiance does not come after the ﬂame but from the ﬂame itself. To teach us not to think of a certain form of glory for the Father and of another for the Son. 7d. ‘outward form’.
Parallel in meaning to the schema. but as not admitting of any gap in his unity with the Father. not as if the Only-begotten did not also have being as an hypostasis. but as being inadmissible to disjoin the one from the other and comprehend the one remaining alone. since the very title connotes the Father inherently. 7d.
. For as the body is found wholly in a shape150 and yet the principle of the shape is one thing and that of the body another. For in naming the Son it is impossible not to become aware also of the Father. he goes on to say impress of the hypostasis. 7f. ensuring by this example of the light that the Son is to be conceived of inseparably with the Father. he ought also by his utterances set forth the continuous and as it were congenital relation of the Only-begotten to the Father. one who with the eyes of the soul gazes on the impress151 that is the Only-begotten also becomes aware of the hypostasis of the Father. so that the caused is always conceived of together with the cause. he deﬁnes the glory of the Only-begotten as the brightness of the glory of the Father. outward form. guiding us to the conception of things invisible by means of bodily examples. in the analogy of the body above. 7c. He speaks thus.
150 151
sxÆmati. the Only-begotten not divided oﬀ from the Father’s existence by any kind of interval. as if to interpret the preceding thought. not as if the individuality contemplated in them were transferred or commingled so as to ascribe either begottenness to the Father or unbegottenness to the Son. 7e. so he wishes the Son to be thought of as from the Father. 7g. Then in the same manner.

as the Lord says in the Gospels ( Jn 14. of the Son.9). and all that the Son has is the Father’s (cf.supplementary collection
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8a. Just as someone who observes in a pure mirror the reﬂection of the form that appears there has a vivid knowledge of the face154 represented. not beholding the unbegottenness of the Father in the copy (for this would be complete identity and no distinction). For all that the Father has.4g. image in the principle of invisibility . .
. he therefore says that the Only-begotten is the impress of His Father’s hypostasis (Heb 1. Jn 16. forms an image153 the impress of the Father’s hypostasis. 8b. For the principle of the image would not be maintained if it were not manifest and invariable in all aspects. 155 prÒsvpon. image of the archetype. 8c. 8c. depicts for himself (more active in sense).15) and again image of his goodness (Wis 7.
152 M recasts: ‘image of his Goodness. because the Son abides wholly in the Father and in turn has the Father wholly in himself (cf. but that it may be shown that it is the same as its prototype. receives in his heart the impress of the Father’s hypostasis through his knowledge of the Son. Jn 14. That the thought may be understood more clearly we shall also invoke other utterances of the apostle where he speaks of the image of the invisible God (Col 1.3). 8d. as it were. Consequently anyone who discerns the beauty of the image also comes to know the archetype. or sustains in himself an impress (of the impress of the Father’s hypostasis). 154 pros≈pou. while the individuality which is contemplated in them remains as the clear distinction of the hypostases. Indeed one who conceives in thought the form. and the hypostasis of the Father is known in the form of the Son. not to distinguish the image from the archetype with regard to the principle of invisibility and goodness. devises. ‘Person’ is also used at 34. Because he who has seen the Son also sees the Father. Thus the hypostasis of the Son becomes as it were the form and face155 of the knowledge of the Father. but discerning the unbegotten beauty in the begotten. and frequently in the Christological letter 32.10). . beholding the latter through the former. which proves the inadequacy of translating ÍpÒstasiw as ‘person’. so one who has knowledge of the Son.15). is discerned in the Son.26). otherwise ‘person’ as in 33. 153 énetup≈sato.4g.152 even though it is other.

My own initial response to the letter is as follows.194. Yet in the most authoritative text family. 273. 207c. 158 Pouchet (33) sources ‘erotic disposition’ in §rvtik«w diatiy°mena. 28–46. Le Banquet.: NPNF 2nd ser.675 n. 2. in the traditional place for dubia. 62.-R. guileless. The above stylistic aspects are enough to rule out Basil as the author. ed. which can be readily perceived in this letter. pure. But some ‘brothers’ have recently visited the author. ‘your sacred . J. and this has occasioned the present letter. Platonis Opera. soul’ (ﬂerån .e.
. 124.158 At the same time. letter 124 is assigned to the last or second-last rung. intro. In Branch Bz. Platon. 1946 repr. 1949. 34. t. 14). . The present numbering of this letter. together with another expression.: Courtonne II. 1901. L. see BBV 1. used of persons of rank. and ﬁnds life burdensome without it. . J.260
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This letter is listed among Basil’s letters as letter 124.157 The present author is quite persuaded both by Pouchet’s arguments.585–586. . 2e partie. i. Vigilianae Christianae 42 (1988). together with ‘our most pious brothers (= monks)’ and their holy ‘rivalry’ in charity.: VPBM. reveal a communion of ascetic and spiritual ideals. Pouchet points out that aspects of external evidence indicate caution with regard to the supposed Basilian authorship of this letter. ed. SUMPOSION 207b. Robin and ed. presbyter or monastic superior. Def. and through her own familiarity with Gregory’s epistolary style. . it appears much later as no. Oeuvres Complètes. On textual transmission see BBV 1. it is a conspicuous feature
156 Mss. Vicaire (Paris: Les Belles Lettres. Pouchet argued a case for reassigning the authorship of this letter to St Gregory of Nyssa in ‘Une Lettre Spirituelle de Gregoire de Nysse identiﬁee: L’Epistula 124 du corpus Basilien’. tr. The Hellenism is seen here especially in the use of erotic language with its source in Plato’s Symposium. 1989 repr. 2. In Bu letter 124 is in the immediate vicinity of Letter 38. P. The title ‘your Sincerity’. Mss. Burnett (Oxford: Clarendon Press. 8. §rvtik«w diat¤yesyai.). of some sub-branches of A place letters 40. The author of the letter is currently cut oﬀ from fellowship with Theodore and with the brothers.). which was written so that they could take it back with them to Theodore. LC. is that of the Benedictine ‘chronological’ order. 29–30. Aa. 207b and 207c. Except for his earliest period (Letters 1. The author is clearly someone who is both steeped in Hellenism and so committed as a Christian that he is either a monk or one very closely associated with monks. 41 and 366 (all spurious) immediately after Letter 124. sou cuxÆn) suggest the addressee may be a bishop. now recognized as spuriously attributed to Basil and securely reassigned to Gregory’s authorship. the epithets given to Theodore: goodness. IV. 157 Fedwick remains unpersuaded.256–259. p.

Gregory follows Origen’s and Athanasius’ use of a phrase from Wisdom 7. the perdurance of holy desire. though the two elements separately do.439. ln 5–6. The Asketikon of St Basil the Great (Oxford: OUP. a supposer même qu’elle vibre pour un ami intime. All the parallels in Gregory of Nyssa’s writings cited by Pouchet are found in his spiritual writings.8 (by Gregory of Nyssa). cit. 86–89.1.supplementary collection
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of Basil’s discourse that he avoids or limits the use of Hellenism in his discourse to Christian ascetics.165
159 See Silvas. 2005). 34–35. 32. .6. Compare the use of erotic language in letter 28. repr. est-elle la marque de Basile?’160 No indeed. or at least used it more moderately. 30. GNO 8. op. . p. 32 begins with Gregory’s earliest work: metayÆsei tØn §rvtikØn dÊnamin .3. 1995. Courtonne 1. see Pouchet. GNO 8. 38. Pouchet pertinently asks: ‘Cette hypersensibilité sans retenue.10. 161 Pouchet. §rvtik∞ tini diay°sei prÚw tÚ . subsequent explanation and application to what Gregory really wishes to say to his correspondent. ‘Introduction’. esp. 114. cit. 162 Pouchet’s list on p. It was only with on the Song of Songs (390) and the Life of Moses (392) that Gregory came into the maturity of his spiritual discourse. From Glory to Glory (Crestwood: St Vladimir’s Press. On the Song of Songs GNO 4. . p. toË kaloË yevr¤an (On Virginity.11). 277. Letter 18.2. Letter 19.5–6). 461. 26). of 1961 edition).92. kalÚn (Life of Moses. In the phrase §nargestãth eﬁkvn t∞w égayÒthtow (‘most distinct image of your Goodness’). 160 Pouchet.164 Pouchet argues that diãyesiw §rvtikÆ is the strongest pointer to a late dating for the letter. . op. But it is characteristic of Gregory of Nyssa.. 57–59.1k. 164 J. ‘The Revolution in Basil’s Ascetic Discourse’. 5 ‘if he leaves me any span of life’ also hints at Gregory’s waning years. §p‹ tØn .159 There is also the particular emotionality of the author shown in a raft of aﬀective terms. but the addition of §nargestãth is uniquely his. Gregory of Nyssa. . The phrase diãyesiw §rvtikÆ (‘erotic disposition’) is at the heart of Gregory’s mature spirituality. Daniélou.1.163 Pouchet associates ≤ per‹ toË ple¤onow filoneik¤a ‘rivalry for surpassing’ with Gregory’s spiritual doctrine of epectasis.. The phrase at v. perhaps the early 390s. op. . with other examples of its use occurring elsewhere in his writings. c’est une expression typiquement nyséene’.3. 165 See note to Letter 1..162 To those we can now add the phase in letter 31.161 It does not appear in either Basil or Gregory. and especially the daring use of erotic language where Basil and Nazianzen would have conﬁned themselves to the language of friendship and aﬀection. Other aspects point to Gregory’s authorship. 163 Basil Letter 38. Another persuasive feature is the conformity of the present letter to the classic pattern of many of Gregory’s letters: introductory vivid image. But the two closest parallels are from the great mystical works at the end of his life: tØn ervtikØn éntixarizom°nvn diãyesin (On the Song of Songs (GNO 6. cit.
. transitional sentence (usually a question) on the meaning of the opening image. so well elucidated by Danielou.

5. Plato’s Symposium lies behind the usage here.10 and the ‘brothers’ at Nyssa in letter 18. 12). because he is sure the usage will be understood—Theodore and his circle are steeped in the metaphor. the craving for what is considered the beautiful. through the 380s has led to a complete rupture between the two. does not appear in any other of Gregory’s writings and is otherwise unknown. ‘welcoming’). percolate almost naturally in the discourse he uses to cherished friends. Compare Gregory’s painful experiences in letter 16. To the fallen Theodore (later bishop of Mopsuestia). The letter is especially interesting in that it applies spousal spirituality to the dedicated male celibate: he too is a ‘bride’ of Christ. the passion of eros. op.. From the years 388–390. they soothe the vehemence of their pas-
166 Cf. written in the 370s.167 In the context of a shared enthusiasm for the loftiest conceptions of union with God. 167 Pouchet. Location of Theodore’s community at Caesarea would help explain how a copyist or compiler might mistakenly attribute a letter to Basil that had been found in the archives of a community once founded by Basil. He continued Basil’s role as spiritual father to the monastic communities. cit. he suggests very plausibly that the hostility nursed against Gregory by Helladius. 46.
To Theodore168 1. and the departure of Theodosius for the West. the early Treatise and Letter of St John Chrysostom.169 are through some more urgent necessity dragged away from the object of their desires. Gregory Nazianzen and other friends. They say that when those who are seized with the passion of love. He is now a persona non grata in Helladius’s church. Basil’s successor in Caesarea.166 Pouchet judges that he is a presbyter–superior of a community of monks (and virgins). who was wanting to abandon his monastic vow for marriage. Theodore. 169 t“ pãyei toË ¶rvtow. If Theodore’s community was in Caesarea itself (at the Basileiad?) any animosity of the Metropolitan towards Gregory might adversely aﬀect the possibilities of contact. There is no embarrassment.262
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The addressee. n. In accounting for the distance and the ‘urgent necessity‘ that imposes a separation. Chrysostom’s remonstrance was successful. the ideals of spiritual eros that ﬁll Gregory’s mind and heart in the evening of his life. 168 M adds éspastikØ (‘friendly’. being concerned above all in the deepening of spirituality. Gregory became more and more taken up in the spiritual life and his ministry to the ascetic communities who sought him out for spiritual doctrine and counsel.
. p. Even from an early stage Gregory was engaged with ascetics in the mould of his sisters Macrina and Theosebia and his brothers Basil and Peter— witness his On Virginity and his references to the ‘choir of virgins’ at Nyssa in letter 6. after the deaths of Theosebia.

379. 177 Mss. For since I have conceived for your sacred and guileless soul a disposition of—if I may so speak—passionate love. unfeignedness. This turgid. 4. since for the present at least. see BBV 1. 174 eﬁkona t∞w égayÒthtow sou §nargestãthn. 4.: V. . in their absence. precludes his writing to Theodosius. ed. . who was not proclaimed Augustus of the East until January 19. 172 This is the transitional sentence connecting a colourful opening image and its application to the present case. ‘image of your goodness’ in Basil. 176 t∞w égãphw. I consider life a painful business and repugnant. from a single ms. ‘Theodosius’ was added by the Benedictine editors.172 3. 4.173 yet to enjoy the object of this desire. as with any number of other good things. . Basil’s chronology. Letter 38. I had fallen in with your Sincerity.171 2. Def.supplementary collection
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sion by looking on an image of the beloved form170 and feasting their eyes on it. and ‘most distinct proof ’ in Letter 19. Now whether this is true or not I cannot say.661. is simply to the great emperor.1.2. for detailed information on the ms. is so great.175 I would have considered that I had also seen them in you. copied in 1377 by the Athonite monk
Cf. L. genuineness. However.346–351. Basil to the great Emperor Theodosius (Def.: Courtonne 2. purity. 175 tª sª . I say. and tr. we ﬁnd diﬃcult through the hindrance of our sins. For this I gave thanks to the holy God and indeed I pray that if any span of life is left to me. record. 173 tiw diãyesiw . the title in all but one of the mss. literally ‘erotic’ love. that there appears in each an evenly balanced rivalry for still more. my life be sweetened through you. §rvtikÆ. sundered as it is from the company of those most dear. but what has happened to me with regard to your Goodness is not far from that description. that marks Gregory of Nyssa’s epistolary style.226–227. And if. For in my judgment there is nothing in which to ﬁnd élan when cut oﬀ from those who truly love us.
171
170
. 5. since the measure of love176 in each one of you. I thought that I saw a most distinct image of your Goodness174 in the arrival of our most pious brothers.346–351). The phrase occurs in Letter 18. even the received dating of his death to 1 Jan 379. highly complex sentence is reminiscent of Gregory Nyssen not of Nazianzen. letter 19 which also opens by evoking the painter of images. . gnhsiÒthti. Letter 37 To the great Emperor177
This letter is familiarly known as letter 365.

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Ignatius. even taking him in his most Hellenist. not very literate in Greek. This letter describes in graphic fashion the ﬂooding of the river Halys. i. through their
178 The fullest technical information on the manuscript transmission may be found in Fedwick’s BBV 1. precisely in the place traditionally reserved for dubia. So it is accepted that Basil was not the author. and conjectured that it was written early in Basil’s life and not to the great emperor. he was at least six years younger than Basil if not more. As to his youth.e. It might also be conﬁrmed that it is very unlike Nazianzen’s style. I should be inclined to attribute this to a youthful writer keen to show oﬀ. only two of which are earlier than 13th century (used by Courtonne for his edition of Basil’s letters). Maran and Garnier’s ‘Regius 2’ manuscript.. Tillemont. being an Illyrian brought up to the army. and knowing that Basil was not the author.’179 Which amply bears out Tillemont’s observations. so he was about 29 to 38 during this period and possibly younger by a very few years. The content suggests that the letter was sent rather to a governor or high oﬃcial with ﬁscal authority to mandate the construction of a bridge. 12:39 PM. Secondly. Deferrari. Alan James.178 But we may even question the accuracy of the shorn title. It strikes me as self-consciously clever. and he. both for its unusual. The writer is evidently resident not only in the province of Cappadocia but in the metropolis of Caesarea itself. when ﬁnally won over by Basil to service of the Church as a bishop. Taking these suggestions. it will be remembered was unequivovally Arian. I submitted the letter to a former teacher of mine. and. As to internal evidence. it appears very late in the enumeration. might it be possible that Gregory of Nyssa himself wrote the letter as a young rhetorician? Gregory practised the profession of rhetoric in the city of Caesarea from early 364 to 371/2.6). but to some magistrate of Cappadocia. Fedwick records some 10 mss.661.
.739). But did Basil write it at all? The Benedictine editors Maran and Garnier. It is true that both Basil and Gregory Nazianzen were. He reveals himself as both candidly Christian and a rhetorician well versed in traditional Hellenism. below the bulk of great Mt Argaeus (37. in arguing for Basil’s authorship (5. straightaway the overt rhetorical manner and the vocabulary are against Basil’s authorship. ornate expressions and also for its drawing of rather far-fetched parallels. thought the style of the letter not unworthy of a young man and a rhetorician. where a full copy survives. Valens was the Emperor of the East throughout these years. 179 E-mail to the author of 18/2/05. Fedwick—and with the latter the best of recent scholarship—are all agreed that this letter is not by Basil. in all the older mss. The external evidence against his authorship begins ﬁrst of all with the patchiness of its transmission in the Basilian corpus. Part of his reply to me was: ‘I have ﬁnally got round to reading and reﬂecting on the style of your Letter 36 [as I then had it]. an erudite Hellenist for an opinion on its stylistic character.

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rhetorical training, expert users of metaphors and graphic imagery, both much called for in the contemporary period of rhetoric called the Second Sophistic, dominated by the great rhetorician Libanius. However evocative descriptions of nature are an altogether special feature of Gregory’s style. Gregory dwelt often and sensitively on the imagery of water, weather, the ﬂooding of rivers and the onset of rain and storms. For powerful evocations of gathering and breaking storms, see also letters 1.25–26 and especially 6.2–4. A long passage highly reminiscent of the description of ﬂooding in this letter occurs in his Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus (GNO 10.1, 32–34), where he describes as only a local can the havoc wrought on the surrounding countryside by the ‘wild and turbulent river’ Lycus when it overﬂows its banks.180 He describes the ﬂooding of the Lycus as ‘powerless to human intentions’ (GNO 10.1, 33 line 11), just as here the ﬂooding of the Halys is described as ‘obeying no laws’. The readiness with which Gregory compares Gregory Thaumaturgus to Moses, and his frequent use of Moses as an example in other works culminating in the Life of Moses, may be compared with the reference to Moses in this letter (37.7). Compare also the same scriptural analogy used in 6.3. Instances of redundancy and the somewhat disorderly structure (which contrast with the terseness characteristic of Nazianzen’s letter-writing) also accord with Gregory’s style, e.g. the second description of the river’s ﬂood in 37.8 which had already been dealt with in 37.2. Compare the hyperbolic comparison ‘outstripping the tongue and the eyes’ (37.2) with letter 19.8: ‘incredible even to the eyes’ and ‘how indeed could one bring before the eyes a reality that transcends description in words’, with VSM 13.6:181 ‘what human eloquence could bring such a life before the eyes?’, with The Life of Gregory Thaumaturgus:182 ‘outstripping by far written reports and verbal accounts’ and with letter 6.2, which happens also to be a graphic description of nature, in this case of a cold damp wind described as ‘threatening a deluge as never before’. But examples of this type of hyperbolic comparison can be readily multiplied in Gregory’s works.

‘A river courses through that country which by its very name indicates its wild and turbulent ﬂow. For it is called Lykos [= wolf ] by those who dwell there due to its destructiveness. For this formidable watercourse bears down from its sources in Armenia through the lofty mountains, bringing with it an abundant ﬂow. Its current, ﬂowing everywhere beneath the base of the cliﬀs, is made much wilder by the winter torrents when it gathers into itself all the streams ﬂowing down from the mountains. In the ﬂatlands through which it courses it is most often constrained by the banks on either side, but in certain parts it overﬂows the embankment on the side and inundates all the low-lying area with its streams, so that with its unlooked for ﬂood, it brings the inhabitants there into danger, whether by its sudden onset during the night or, often, by the river’s overrunning the ﬁelds during the day. Hence not only crops and seeds and cattle are destroyed by the onrush of the waters, but the danger unexpectedly assails the dwellers there, bringing them shipwreck by inundating their houses with the water.’ [GNO 10.1, 32–33] 181 GNO 8.1, 381–383, Maraval 174–180. 182 GNO 10.1, 44, lines 12–13.

180

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The brief statement ‘But I will explain how this came about’, gives one pause. It recalls those many transitional sentences in Gregory’s letters that serve to connect a graphic opening image with its subsequent explanation. They are often in the form a question, such ‘What then, do I mean?’ (letter 1.3), or ‘What do I mean by beginning my letter in this way?’ in letter 14.2. Sometimes they are statements of explanation: ‘I write this as my introduction because of the sad tragedy which some malign power has been staging among those of longstanding worth’ in letter 7.2, and ‘But leaving that aside, I will come to the subject of your enquiry’ in letter 32.2. Once alerted to the possibility of Gregory’s classic formula for letter writing, the opening of this letter reveals itself as one of those pungent, dramatic statements with which Gregory frequently began his letters. Letter 1, for example, begins with such a statement, followed up with a graphic description and then the transitional question. Letter 12 is somewhat similar, and so are letters 32 and 33. In this latter case, the pungent statement is ﬁrst, the transitional sentence next, and the graphic description follows. The vocabulary of the letter invites comparison with Gregory’s manner with words, which set a premium on variety, dexterity, and inventiveness. He expressed ﬁne nuances by using or inventing words with compound preﬁxes, most frequently with the preﬁx sun. He coined nealogisms: not infrequently one comes across hapax words in Lampe’s Patristic Lexicon that are cited from his works, sometimes the very word one is looking up. It is remarkable that this short letter contains three verbs with double preﬁxes: sunepimignmena, §nepãrhsan, §kdusvpÆyeiw. The rarity of the ﬁrst two words and of another word éenãƒ parallel the Gregory’s recherché vocabulary. So rare is §nepãrhsan it was not easy to determine its meaning in the context, as discussed below. The most striking item of vocabulary is of course éstrapobrontoxalazoreiyrodamãstou, all one word (36.5). It recalls the bombastic phrase-words that appear in Aristophanes’ comedies, though here humour can hardly be the intent, but rather a clever aural imitation of the turbulence it describes. Gregory’s makes use of the Aristophanic manner in letter 1.12 and VSM 40.1183 (and cf. letter 27.4). ‘Bodily misfortune’ (36.1) is a characteristically Gregorian idiom. Perhaps the most suggestive feature of the letter is the prompt, almost casual mention of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia.184 It is true that Basil

GNO 8.1, 410, Maraval 258. The Forty martyrs of Sebasteia were among the most popular Christian saints of late Antiquity. The earliest surviving documents are the homily by St Basil, the three homilies by St Gregory of Nyssa and an anonymous Passio XL Martyrum, O. von Gebhardt (ed.), Acta martyrum selecta: Ausgewählte Märtyreracten und andere Urkunden aus der Verfolgungszeit der christlichen Kirche (Berlin: 1903), 171–181. For more recent analysis of the Passio and the state of the tradition see P. Karlin-Hayter, ‘Passio of the XL Martyrs of Sebasteia. The Greek Tradition: The Earliest Account (BHG 201)’, Analecta Bollandiana 109 (1991), 249–304.
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preached a famous homily on these martyrs in the martyrion dedicated to their memory in Caesarea (PG 31.507–526). Yet Gregory of Nyssa himself was an altogether special client of these martyrs. He seems almost haunted by their memory. He left two, or strictly three, homilies preached on their feast day.185 There was a martyrion to these martyrs at the family estate at Annisa in which an urn of their ashes were kept. There he buried his sister, Macrina, in their parents’ grave next to the relics.186 At the end of his second address, he mentions how once when he was a neos, i.e. a student in his early teens, his mother pressed him to take part in the synod for the martyrs. He fulﬁlled her request very grudgingly to say the least. During the vigil he was visited by an apparition or dream of the soldiers, who chastised him for his impiety, at which he wept repentantly over the urn of their ashes. Most intriguingly, we also ﬁnd at the beginning of his ﬁrst address on these Martyrs, a description of a river making havoc in the surrounding countryside, just as we read it in this letter, only it refers to the Lycus not the Halys. As mentioned above, the brewing of storms and the ﬂooding of rivers are highly characteristic motifs of Gregory’s imagery. At the other end of his life, in letter 1.5 we ﬁnd Gregory celebrating the Forty Martyrs on their feast-day in Sebasteia itself, invited by his brother Peter now the bishop there. There is some question concerning the account of the Martyrs’ torture. Deferrari claims that this letter ‘contradicts Basil’s statement, made elsewhere, about the forty martyrs’.187 The best I can understand this to mean is that because Deferrari has interpreted the text at v. 3 to say that the martyrs ‘were drowned’ in the lake, he thinks it contradicts the account in Basil’s homily according to which the soldiers were coralled on the surface of the frozen lake to freeze to death in the piercing north wind. The relevant text is: tª ﬂervtãt˙ l¤mn˙ t«n Sebasthn«n eﬁw ªn (Courtonne) / ¥n (Deferrari) . . . §nepãrhsan. The trouble is this obscure last word. Initially I took it as a form of §mpãreimi, meaning to be together in/on/by something. Courtonne however translates it as ‘furent gelés’, i.e. ‘were frozen’. In that case §nepãrhsan may be a copyist’s corruption of §nepãghsan, aorist passive third person plural of §mpÆgnumi, ‘to freeze into/onto’, which would explain Courtonne’s translation. If such is the case, it would have to be removed from the class of double preﬁx verbs. But either way there is no discrepancy here with Basil’s description of way the martyrs were put to death. Finally, one needs to propose a plausible account of the circumstances in which this letter may have been written and how it might have found its way into the corpus of Basil’s letters.

Two possible scenarios for the writing of this letter might be suggested, taking as our time-span Gregory’s professional career as a rhetorician in Caesarea, 364–372. First that Gregory wrote this letter in the spring of 370, after the great drought of 369–370188 followed by a great ﬂood in the Halys valley near Caesarea. The Forty Martyrs’ feast-day was March 9, and it is likely that Gregory himself had already heard his brother preaching on that day in Caesarea. As we know from Basil’s letters 60 and 58, Basil esteemed his brother’s gifts, and was nudging him to put them at the service of the Church. Perhaps in this civil necessity his brother’s secular avocation was an advantage to be exploited, given the unfavourable religio-political situation. Basil even before he became bishop was the eﬀective leader of the Church of Caesarea and a key organizer of the Neo-nicene alliance. This did not create the political circumstances favourable to petitions from its bishop or clergy to the Arian Emperor Valens, who indeed backed the Arian bishop of Constantinople, Eudoxius, in thwarting a proposed meeting of the Neo-nicenes in 368. Gregory, rather than Basil himself or a member of Caesarea’s clergy might more plausibly undertake such a petition to the Emperor Valens or preferably to a relevant imperial oﬃcer able to mandate major bridge construction. Gregory probably had more of a reputation as a rhetorician of note in Caesarea than we know. Since the military route from Constantinople to Melitene through Iconium and Caesarea lay south of the Halys, a bridge over the river to the north would not have been a priority until now except to locals. One may wonder whether the mention of the martyrs, put to death under the Emperor Licinius, was a discreet reminder of imperial persecution. There is no great diﬃculty in it if a letter from Gregory, living in Caesarea at the same time as Basil and in regular communication with him, found its way into Basil’s ﬁles of letters, specially if Basil had instigated it. One problem with this scenario is that in 370 Gregory was beyond being a young and enthusiastic rhetorician, and coming into his maturity in his mid to late thirties. Would that seemingly juvenile phrase-word and a certain ‘show-oﬀ’ quality of the letter beﬁt Gregory at this stage? A second possibility is that Gregory wrote this letter in 364, the very year he took up his teaching post in Caesarea.189 On his own admission in letter 13.4 to the master rhetorician of the age, Libanius, he was enamoured of the beauty of rhetoric. He was clearly caught up in the enthusiasm for Hellenism stirred up by Julian which lasted well after he died. In 364 Gregory; was still young(ish), new in undertaking this profession, with everything to prove. But, as mentioned above, the emperor of the East, Valens, was not very literate in Greek. Either Gregory did not know this and assumed the he would be so, or he addressed the letter to a senior

See Gregory Nazianzen, Oration 43.34. Cod. Theod. 13.3.6 of January 11, 364, ascribed to Valentinian and Valens, may be Jovian’s response to Julian’s edicts on education or at least to the state of aﬀairs which had arisen in various locales as a result of Julian’s pro-pagan policies.
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imperial oﬃcer who might be expected to be of this cultural echelon. Moreover, the religious/political circumstances advanced in the previous scenario are not relevant at this date. Basil did not come to Caesarea till late autumn of the following year, 365. The unsolved problem in this scenario is to account for the later inclusion of the letter among Basil’s letters. The above considerations scarcely constitute a ‘proof ’ that Gregory is the author of this letter. Yet the raft of quite speciﬁc correspondences with Gregory’s literary style and especially the mention of the Forty Martyrs of Sebasteia establish a certain possibility that a young or youngish Gregory of Nyssa, a professional rhetorician in the city of Caesarea between 364–372 who strove to combine the Hellenism of the cultural elite with a manifestly Christian commitment, was the writer of this letter. The editions do not contain versiﬁcation which is supplied here.

To the great Emperor 190 1. A disaster has come upon our country, not because of some bodily misfortune but because of a great deluge of waters. 2. But I will explain how this came about. There was a heavy fall of snow in our marshlands. It had not yet compacted in a frozen state when a warm breeze blew in and along with it there fell a southerly rain. At the sudden thaw that followed immense streams were set in motion which merged with the permanent river, the Halys,191 till it become an inundation outstripping the tongue and the eye.192 3. This is the neighbouring river that is our lot, gushing out of Armenia and taking its source in the most sacred lake of the Sebasteians, upon which the so-called ‘Forty’ noble soldiers of Christ were frozen193 during the blast of a ﬁerce north wind. 4. Since then—believe that I speak the truth, most excellent sir— this river that encircles us like a hostile and fearsome tribe has caused us no little fear. 5. For it cannot yet be crossed on foot in any manner at any time, and hence it does not allow the homelands which are indispensable and proﬁtable for us194 to transport across it the

190 Basile¤ow t“ megãlƒ basile› V, L, Basile¤ow t“ megãlƒ basile› Yeodos¤ƒ Benedictine editors. 191 The name itself means ‘agitation’. 192 I.e. beyond the power of description and incredible to see. 193 tª ﬂervtath l¤mn˙ t«n Sebasthn«n eﬁw ªn (Courtonne)/¥n (Deferrari) . . . §nepãrhsan. For discussion see the notes prefacing the letter. The fact that the Forty are described as frozen in the north wind, not in the icy waters removes any ambiguity whether ‘in’, ‘into’ or ‘upon’ the lake is appropriate. 194 tåw énagka¤aw Ím›n ka‹ lusitele›w patr¤daw.

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customary merchandise. I mean, of course, the lands of the Galatians and Paphlagonians and Hellenopontians, through which and from which we have our necessities, especially suﬃciency of bread, since the land surrounding here is subject to frosts and constrained by the prevailing climate and by the conquering wrath of lightning, thunder, hail and ﬂood combined.195 6. And besides, there is no slight threat from Mount Argaeus,196 the grief of our fathers, which looks down upon us. 7. Be moved therefore, most excellent sir, and consent to win honour in your tributary land, so that by equipping this river with the muniﬁcence of a bridge by which it may be crossed, you may reveal it as a new Red Sea, able to be traversed on foot. For the Lord, having compassion on the life of the Jews, so full of groaning, deigned that they should walk with unmoistened feet in the Red Sea as on dry land, having given them Moses as their leader (cf. Ex 14.22). 8. The behaviour of our river was already erratic: now it has become a destruction to human beings, and when it rises and forms a sea and ﬂattens all the grass-bearing land and the ﬁelds for ploughing are covered with mud, then must the plough-ox go hungry and all the beasts of burden in the surrounding country too. 9. Now if it had been a human being who injured another human being, we would not have ceased having recourse to the law-courts. But that which obeys no laws, a mighty river—how is one to deal with it? To you, therefore, most excellent sir, we must pray, to you who are able in one moment of time to check this danger to travellers.

195 éstrapobrontoxalazvreiyrodamãstou Ùrg∞w, an extraordinary coinage of the author. 196 The tallest mountain in Asia Minor, at c. 4000m, overlooking Caesarea from the south.